Mr. Cranky Pants

I don't know what the deal is but lately everything is irritating the shit out of me. I've decided to make a short list of things that bother me.

The crisis in Lebanon
The actual conflict doesn't bother me -- it's been going on since the dawn of man, so I'm used to it. What drives me nuts is there's no consensus on how to spell Hezbollah. As long as I can remember, it's always been spelled H-E-Z-B-O-L-L-A-H. But recently I noticed some news organizations who spell it H-I-Z-B-U-L-L-A-H.

There should be some sort of unified spelling code for this organization. The Council on Foreign Relations goes with the former, but the latter and even Hizbu'llah are acceptable variants.

CNN has NO consistency. On Aug. 14 at 1:40 a.m. it posted a story spelling it Hezbollah. At 11:36 a.m. that same day it decided to go with Hizbollah. A day later it was back with the "e."
No wonder the Israeli army can't find root them all out. They keep changing the spelling of their name!

It reminds me of the sudden change in pronunciation of harassment. Pre-Tailhook scandal (early 90s?), it was always pronounced Ha-RASS-ment. As soon as the Tailhook story hit, it was pronounced HAIR-is-ment. I don't know why. I guess the network news was afraid to say ASS when describing a sexual harassment case.

Carry On Luggage
The non-liquid thing is just ridiculous. First, TSA says that any liquids except for baby formula are not allowed on-board. I guess they figure that terrorists will kill anyone including themselves, but not little babies.

Then Phoenix announces it's going to give away all unopened liquids (water bottles, shampoo, cologne, etc.) to the homeless in Phoenix. How do they know the homeless people won't get blown up? Is that their answer to the homeless problem? Give them all bombs so they explode and die.

And if they aren't afraid of the big mess it could create on the Phoenix's streets, then why don't they just let the damn passengers take their Frescas and Drakkar Noir onboard?

And why CAN I take on board pointed scissors, a wrench, screwdriver or any other tool under 7 inches, but I CAN'T take on board a Capri Sun? And why is lipstick ok, but lip gloss is not?

Jeanne Moos does a GREAT bit on this. Watch it here.

The Republican Spin and Mainstream Media
CNN, AP, Time, and your local newspapers are just lapdogs to the current administration. It's really disgusting. Anything that comes from the White House is presented as fact. They never bother to put it into context.

For example, when Ned Lamont beat Joe Lieberman the Vice President said everyone who voted for Lamont was voting for Al Qaeda. The Mainstream Media never bothered to counter Cheney at the time. Nor did they point out how sick and wrong that statement was. They just printed it.

Fortunately we have The Daily Show.

Props to Americablog for pointing out this hysterical quote, "Al Qaeda was in tatters on the verge of surrender until news of millionaire Ned Lamont's 52%-48% primary victory reached them and rallied their spirits."

So am I being overly sensitive or is anyone else irritated by all this crap?