Two themes have dominated the infotainment world this last week and no clear minded individual would entangle them. That's what you've got me for.
First, in the real world that no one wants to think about, we have police departments in the United Prison System of America keeping the peace with tanks and military assault vehicles. Don't get the wrong idea, they don't break these things out until they have to cover their butts for killing somebody for no apparent reason in the middle of the street in broad daylight. That's some hard peace to keep! Otherwise, you'd hardly know they were there. They keep them in that bunker over the hill your crazy uncle was babbling about.
Just remember: Barney Fife has traded his bullet for a drone so you had better just nip it. Nip it in the bud!
This is all in the name of Homeland Security, the security services corporation we imported from Germany after 9/11. Homeland Security has done an incredible job with the War on the Terrified. Thanks to HS, Elkhorn City really can be policed by just one officer with an Apache Attack helicopter. That'll keep the four wheelers under control.
The other news, living mostly in the world too many of us seem to think is real, is people getting ice water dumped on their heads to stop disease. Now I'm not aware of any studies that show the more people videotaping themselves getting an ice shower the more people getting cured of ALS, but I'll keep an open mind that there's sure to be one out there somewhere. Isn't it confusing when fighting disease goes viral?
Everybody from gay football players to former presidents are performing the ritual so there must be something to it. Kids are doing it and teachers are doing it and senators are doing it. So many are doing it that there's a spin-off virtual world of bloopers and self-dunking fails. I have no doubt by this time next week there'll be a class action suit against whoever the first drunk to immortalize himself with icewater was.
I'm not sure what it says that nobody has challenged me to a soak off, but I'm sure it has something to do with me getting dunked in cold water year round anyway. Don't get any ideas, I'm already wet. Paddling upstream remember?
So anyway, these two completely unrelated stories have dominated the media this week. The cops are better equipped than the Green Berets and pouring icewater over your head stops the spread of Lou Gehrigs disease.
Maybe we should put our heads together and come up with a virtual world solution to a real world problem. Those folks in Missouri could probably do without all the tear gas and rubber bullets which don't seem like problems at all until you step outside. If there was some kind of shared ritual that could go viral, something like icewater over the head but different.
Wait...I've got it. What if we all videotaped ourselves voting? I'll do it and I challenge you to do it too. Wouldn't it be something if voting went viral!