This is one weird society we live in nowadays....one where rules change like the wind.  They say change is good, but man, have people really been getting it out of kilter lately - and not in the most healthy of ways either.  I wonder if we do this due to some sort of masochistic autonomic response in our brains, or if it's something that "society" has programmed us to do.  No matter how things change, one set - or percentage - of the population is always....ALWAYS meant to suffer as a result of it, whether it be directly or indirectly.  Let me give you some examples!

COPYRIGHTS AND COPY PROTECTION

This is something that's been going on since the 80's (at least in the mass media).  It's a good thing to have things copyrighted....it basically says "Hey!  I came up with this first, and therefore it's mine!" sort of thing.  When VHS tapes came out, there was no such thing as "copy protection", and people basically copied freely and did as they wished.  Then someone came up with the brilliant idea of making it so you COULDN'T copy them....thus COPY PROTECTION was born!  Now you see it on your videogames, your new VHS movies, and all the DVD's in the world (notice they didn't do this with the LaserDisc technology?).

OK....you have that one side.....NOW get this!  NOW you have companies that are making programs designed to BYPASS all this fancy technology!  You can go to Wal-Mart and get a program for $8 designed to COPY DVD'S!  You can go to Best Buy and by a device that goes around ALL COPY PROTECTION and lets you copy as free as a bird (albeit with a HUGE disclaimer blurb that they *cough* really *cough* think is going to discourage illegal copying)....GET REAL!  You are deluding yourselves if you think for one second that it would accomplish that goal.

In the beginning, you had Napster (and all the copycats), which promoted free swapping of songs (of course, you could swap ANYTHING on that network....songs...movies...programs....), and it was basically one big free-for-all!  Then Metallica and Dr. Dre stepped in and bawled their eyes out saying that it was hurting their bottom line (notice how 10 years earlier, it was METALLICA that was encouraging tape-trading!  Wow....guess they didn't want you to know THAT, did they?).  Subsequently, they brought about the demise of the original flavor of Napster.  Others have popped up since then, but have been getting flooded with inquisitions from the MPAA and RIAA and suing people left and right, innocent or not, for hundreds and thousands of dollars....regardless if the proof they have is valid or not.  Face it....THAT Pandora's Box is NOT going to close any time soon.

As they say....no matter how good you make something to prevent something from being ripped off....there are those who will work just that much harder to prove you wrong.  I don't advocate it....it's just a fact of life.

GENDER AND FASHION

Ahhh....one of my favorite subjects, and one that keeps popping up all over my website.  Some might say I obsess on the subject.  Well, it is my site, so I can pretty much discuss what I wish *grin*.  Back in the Victorian days, guys and gals both dressed up pretty darn fancy...sometimes a bit too much, but hey....it was fashion and it was FUN...and who was dumb enough to say no?

These days it seems that fashion is sharply divided among the gender lines...but strangely enough...only in ONE direction!  It's amazing how the females of this age may dress how they wish, in whatever style they wish, and it's all good......BUT.....if you were to reverse the direction and have a guy do the same thing, oh how heads would turn, how the accusations would fly, and how they would consider you the worst scum in the world that crawled out from under a rock!  OK....now that's just a LITTLE *stretching out arms a light year in each direction* UNFAIR!  Someone should fix the door on the fashion world, so it swings freely in both directions!  I myself tend to cross many outdated lines in that way (see HERE for proof of that). In the last decade or so, I've come to the conclusion that hey.....clothes are clothes and no one has the right to say what is right and what is wrong as to what you can wear.  You have the obligation to make yourself happy and to exude your style in whatever manner you see fit.  So cast off the stereotypical views and embrace some real freedom of choice!

SIDE OF THE COUNTER

Doesn't it seem odd that when you're on the "worker" side of any counter, whether it be fast food, retail, or otherwise, that people tend to look down on you - like you're some sort of sub-human that doesn't deserve the respect of a fellow human being, and think you can perform all kinds of magic tricks so they can have that "wonderful experience" that the ads on TV tend to tout more often than we ever care to think about?  It seems that those who are the "customers" are there to be the carnivores, and most don't have any God-given common sense!  Are we not all the same humans on this planet, or is there some special sub-class we all of a sudden belong to when we put in a smock, or an apron, or even just a name tag?  Maybe I've been in customer service way too long, but it sure seems like "customer servitude" to me.  What ever happened to "treat others as you yourself would like to be treated?

THE GAY-STR8 DEBATE

We've come a long way in terms of equality.....first the bla...errr...African-Americans, then it was equality for females....soooo....why did we stop?  Why are we now all of a sudden on this big-ass push to put down gays, lesbians, transgenders, and transvestites?  Is this just the latest in a series of things designed to alleviate our boredom?  Are we that narrow-minded in our thinking that we cannot accept any new ideas anymore?  Aren't we supposed to be an enlightened species?  What'll happen when the next "deviation" is realized?  Are we going to attack that too, or are we actually going to wake up, smell the cappucino, and embrace the new and exciting with open arms?

There are many more items that can be brought to bear, but these are just the ones that stick in my mind/craw/gullet.  I would just love to see, sometime in our humanity's lifetime, our ability to co-exist as one people on this planet, so that we can be ready for whatever awaits us in the future.

Peace be with us all...............

SQ - 08.03.04