The FDA Is Soooo On The Ball!

According to a story on Reuters, the FDA is re-opening an investigation into the effects of caffeine on children because of a new gum being marketed by Wrigley, although they don't name the gum specifically.

Yeah, FDA, it's caffeinated gum that's affecting children, not Red Bull, Monster or any of those other super-caffeinated soft drinks that are marketed directly at children and teens! The FDA must just be mad at Wrigley because they weren't willing to slip them a few million dollars under the table to ignore them like they do the soft drink manufacturers! I fail to understand how there could be any substantive difference between a caffeinated gum and a drink that provides more caffeine than a comparable sized coffee drink.

My First Truck

Bought my first truck in Euro Truck Simulator 2. Cost: 139,090 Euros. Now though I have to pay my own tolls, diesel and repairs! Lots of fun though just the same.

My New Obsession

Who would think that driving a tractor/trailer rig around Europe would make for a fun game?! I've been curious about the game European Truck Simulator 2 for awhile now, and decided the other day to get it from Steam, since it was on sale for 50% off. Wow! Am I glad I got this game. It is sooo much fun, and I'm not even sure why! Literally, you drive loads of cargo from one European city to another, making money and buying upgrades for your truck. It's sooo addictive though. And a truly beautiful game. I've got the graphics mostly turned up to high and am playing it at 1920x1080 resolution. I've already logged in 7 hours of play just since yesterday.

I've mostly been traveling around Germany and France, and have just stopped in at Geneve Switzerland to drop off a load of cargo. I've found that I hate driving in England, it's just so confusing trying to drive on the opposite side of the road, it just makes no sense! France and Germany drive on the proper side of the road at least! Well, gotta get back on the road, there's a smokie on my tail and I've gotta lose him!

Special Interests Pushing Distracted Driving For A Reason?

We've been hearing about "distracted drivers" for awhile now. First it was GPS devices under attack, then it blew up big with texting and driving. Now, according to an article on Engadget, a study has been conducted that has concluded that just using voice-only input for your smart-device while driving causes as much driver distraction as physically texting.

If using your voice to operate a device is distracting to a driver, why wouldn't just talking to someone in the car with you while driving be a distraction?! I'm beginning to wonder if perhaps there is an agenda behind all this "driver distraction" hoopla lately. Maybe there are special interest groups out there that see pushing driver distraction issues will in the future make "driver-less cars" more appealing to the general public. After all, if they've convinced everyone that unless a driver is completely cut off from every distraction possible, we'll always be unsafe on the road until we take the driving away from the human.

I'm all for the development of the driver-less car, but I don't think it's necessary to "dumb-down" people to get us there. Most adults are capable of doing multiple things at once, hence the term, multi-tasking. There are always going to be those that can't multi-task and could therefore be a problem when driving, maybe instead of tying everyone down with rules and regulations, we should instead concentrate on making sure that only competent people are issued licenses to drive!

It Would Seem the U.S. is Back on Track

According to White House spokesman Jay Carney, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who at this time lies in a Boston hospital recovering from wounds, will stand trial in a Federal courtroom for his crimes. This is a good thing. It's about time that our government shows a commitment to the ideals that it stands for. Unfortunately there are still several "vocal" members of the GOP who are advocating that Mr. Tsarnaev be tried as an enemy combatant. While I believe they certainly have a right to voice their opinion, it is saddening that leaders of our country would show so little care for the liberties and freedoms of their fellow citizens. 

LINK to the story at CBS.com

How Should the Marathon Bomber be Tried?

The (as far as we know) lone surviving Boston Marathon bomber has been captured. Soon he will have to be tried, the question is will he be tried as an American citizen in a criminal trial, or will he be tried as a "terrorist" in a military trial? I think this will be a watershed moment in American history as it will define how our country wishes to travel through the turbulent years ahead. Will we stand by our judicial system and trust it to give guidance to the future generations in our nation, or will we undermine it by intimating that it is not be trusted by turning this young man over to the military to be tried?

IF he is tried as a terrorist in a military trial, it means that he will not be allowed a defense lawyer, nor will the public likely be privy to what occurs during this "trial". Essentially, he will simply disappear, no doubt to the Guantanamo Bay facility where even now, there are an indeterminate number of "terrorists" languishing in a virtual purgatory. This will give very few people in the United States a sense of closure on what has become a national tragedy. No matter how he is put on trial, the dead will not come back to life, and the wounded will not miraculously recover. The American public though does deserve to see that justice is done for those who have suffered at this mans' hands.

IF our justice system in this country is sound and fair, there is no reason that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev should not be able to be tried in a civilian criminal court setting. Timothy McVeigh was tried in a criminal court proceeding and I believe that by anyones account, he is presently serving a justified sentence for his crime, the bombing of the  Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. An attack that killed 168 people and injured over 800. So put in that perspective, the Boston Marathon bombing actually pales in comparison. There is no reason that a civilian court cannot try Mr Tsarnaev for his crime. 

Are Sequestration Cuts To Blame for Boston Marathon Bombings?

One has to wonder if the sequestration cuts are to blame for yesterday's Boston Marathon bombings. Have across the board budget cuts resulted in lower security standards which allowed the person or persons to plant bombs within a few hundred feet of the end of the Boston Marathon? How much security was in place for this years race, and how much security had been implemented for the race just last year? Were there bomb-sniffing dogs patrolling the area before or during the race?

With 3 dead and reports of wounded now over 140, Congress will soon be answering tough questions. Is balancing the budget as important as protecting American interests and lives within our own borders? There is no credible evidence at this time of who may have been behind this bombing, but it's becoming quite apparent that most fingers are starting to point at Arabic and Muslim suspects. If so, what have the last ten years or so been all about with the mass deportations and supposedly stricter controls on immigration? Has it all been a smoke-screen to make Americans feel safer when in actuality nothing is being done to make America anymore secure?

Many have complained about how after 9/11 the measures taken to protect America were nothing more than a ploy to instigate draconian laws which have done nothing more than limit constitutional freedoms in this country. Will this bombing now be used to roll out the Patriot Act II? We've had instances in the last few years where American children have been dragged in handcuffs out of their schools for offenses as small as hitting another student or bringing a pen-knife to school, yet we are apparently so lax in our security that not one but at least three bombs were planted in a public area where a huge event was being staged, and two of those bombs allowed to be detonated. Perhaps it's time to stop punishing the innocent and do a realistic assessment of how we can truly make this country safer.

Knife Attack Rampage in Texas

Yesterday, fourteen people were severely wounded by a knife-wielding maniac on a Texas college campus during a job fair. Twenty year old Dylan Quick, admitted to police after his capture that he'd always fantasized about stabbing people, and that he'd planned this attack for quite some time. Two of the victims were still in critical condition. LINK to the original story on CNN.

Obviously, this country needs to immediately enact "knife control legislation"! For far too long, citizens of the United States have had far too easy access to knives. Hunting knives, kitchen knives, utility blades like those used by terrorists on 9/11 even! Yet nothing is being done to make sure that knives are kept out of the hands of criminals.

A quick search of Youtube even yields a scarier fact. There are literally thousands of videos on the site showing people how to make their own knives, and even swords! How can we let this continue when we let the violence rage in our streets and in our homes! Strict knife control laws need to be enacted before even one more citizen falls victim to another senseless knife attack. After the Newton attack many in this country have advocated for strict gun control laws, even the banning of gun ownership completely. How many innocent lives have to be taken before our government takes the threat of knives seriously? No one will be safe as long as you can buy a set of Ginsu knives from your local Walmart!