When I was young, drugs were not as huge a problem as they were made out to be. I�m sorry, but a few junkies and potheads are not going to ruin the world. No! Not the munchies! Stop staring at that blacklight poster! You! Put your arms in the air and drop that Vicks Vapo-Rub! I don�t advocate the use of drugs and have never used any myself, but I�ve known many a user and none of them were horrible criminals. Yes, they would occasionally shoplift from convenience stores or steal neighborhood lawn gnomes, but we�re not talking rape, murder, and armed robbery. If you want to catch the rapists, murderers, and armed robbers, talk to the military. They�re the government-sanctioned criminals. There�s a reason the people on Okinawa don�t want a military base there, they don�t want more of their women raped to never receive justice. All those camouflage-clad bohunks do is shrug and say �It wasn�t me�.

The terrorism issue, again, was not as huge an issue as it was made out to be. Yes, the World Trade Center event was terrible and many lost their lives, but to send troops all over the world to try and stamp out terrorist cells? It�s not going to happen. Like those wild onions that tend to grow with abandon in people�s yards, pulling up one means only that another will flourish in its place before long. Besides, it�s not a war. It is U.S. forces overstepping their bounds, going into Big Brother mode, and stepping on the toes of countries that already are none too fond of us.

I realize that SARS is crippling certain parts of the world, but the media is making this illness out to be far worse than it is. More people die from flu in a year than have died from SARS and all SARS victims had underlying respiratory problems. A 4% mortality rate is nothing to get worked up about. Of course, my hoping that my Toronto-native ex-boyfriend has possibly contracted the illness makes it almost worthwhile, but that�s just me being the bitter spurned former girlfriend. (If you happen to be reading this, dude, just because I�m happy now and glad as ever not to be with you doesn�t mean that I don�t think you�re a dick. I�m glad that your current attachment ran away to New Zealand, leaving you to spend your days masturbating and crying.)

The media likes to create panic. Panic drives up viewership, viewership increases ratings, ratings increase ad sales, ad sales increase the profits of the big media moguls, and the big media moguls horde that money and make another crappy reality series, which decreases the amount of money that would leave their pockets were they to make a show that might be worth watching.

On the topic of televised drivel that veers also into music, could Jewel have possibly thrown her dignity any further out the window? I haven�t been fond of her since her second album, but I heard her latest single while driving home the other day and I wanted to drive a pool cue through my radio just to make it stop. What happened to her guitar? Where�s her yodeling, singer-songwriter coolness? Whatever career move she�s trying to make, I think it�s stupid, abandoning her talent and credibility for sex appeal. I saw a tiny clip of her video during the news; she�s going to be performing on some morning show and not only does she sound like Destiny�s Child, she�s also hooched up like them, too. It makes me sick. Girl, for someone who claimed to adore her fucked up teeth and her tiny flaws, why the hell are you taking the glammed-up, coked out, plasticized route? I thought I�d be annoyed when you previously announced that your next album would be country, but country is exponentially better than the noise you�ve put out this time around.