So, by now, everybody’s heard the shocking and surprising news that the balloon boy thing appears to have been a hoax. And oh, the outrage. From the media at least, which once again got punked by turning what might have made for a cutesy fluff piece at the end of a nightly news piece into the focus of national (nay, global) attention. It was the story of a quirky family epitomizing the ideals of American ingenuity and adventurism. At first, anyway. Then it became the story of a shallow and gullible media feeding the egos of a publicity-seeking family of media whores (which are the 21st Century American ideals). As usual, I’m pretty sure most of us were way ahead of the media on this one. Not that it seemed unlikely that a big Jiffy Pop thing (oh, excuse me, an experimental aircraft) made from tinfoil covered tarps could lift up a kid and whisk him away across the sky or anything. I’m just surprised Dad didn’t stuff Junior in a box and throw him off the roof or something. Oh well, much like the Octomom, I’m sure this “story” will be the big news for weeks (maybe months) to come. In other words, balloon boy’s parents will get exactly what they wanted. And if this doesn’t become an episode of South Park some day, I’ll be shocked.

Afhan President Hamid Karzai appears to be ready to say “screw you” to the country’s election recount, hinting that he may not accept the results as his supporters began demonstrations against “foreign interference” in the elections. This might actually provide Barack Obama with a good excuse to get us the hell out of there, though I still get the feeling that he’ll wind up sending another 50,000 or so troops in. After all, it’s one of the few things he can get the Republicans on board with (which really ought to give him a clue as to whether it’s a good idea or not). I just wonder if anybody will insist that escalating the war in Afghanistan needs to be “revenue neutral.”

Speaking of revenue neutral, I’m trying to figure out what to cut out of my budget to pay for my WTF monthly subscription. I guess it should be easy to find $10 a month somewhere, but I need all those premium teevee channels, and the price of beer continues to skyrocket.

Turns out that, injunctions on mandatory flu vaccinations aside, due to the supposed vaccine shortages, I’ve been excluded from the list of those who are “allowed” to get the shots where I work. If I get the flu, I will, of course, sue.

Oh well, I suppose I ought to get going. It’s another scrape the windshield kinda morning, and I wouldn’t wanna be late.