I've always been put off by people who are comfortable being defined by what or who they are against. From the extreme faction of PETA who get on their soapboxes to tell us about the evils of eating fish to the relentless anti-Bush venom coming from an otherwise decent filmmaker, I just don't understand how anyone could spend all their waking days caught up in such unwavering invectives. I can't imagine that it's synonymous with a long lifespan.

The media's coverage of the Abu Ghraib trial, which you would think would be about the militants being held there, is just getting creepier and creepier. Why? Because many in the media are covering this thing as if the victims are the muslim militants (who are there for good reason, let's not forget) and the bad guy is the U.S. military. Dangerous stuff. Particularly when fed to the millions of the young and naive who don't understand much about the world and are perfectly happy to not investigate for themselves. While there seems to have been some excessive use of force and bizarre behavior on the part of a few guards (which should obviously be dealt with in a manner commensurate with the violation), hanging the military out in front of the country as "a problem" is incredibly dangerous. I don't understand where these journalists are coming from. I don't know where their heads are. But I have an inkling as to their motivations.

I'm only addressing what I've seen on TV and on Websites such as CNN and Salon and MSNBC. If there truly were violations of the Geneva Convention, the people involved should be court martialled. The U.S. should be an emblem of strength in the world, which includes civility and right conduct. But let's not be naive...every country that takes prisoners, especially prisoners that are part of a network whose only reason for being is to destroy your way of life...does whatever it takes to ensure its safety. I'm not condoning anything Machiavellian, I'm just saying...let's not be naive. We think of our WWII vets as heroes, correct? This sort of thing went on then, only worse. Much worse. On both sides. It's easy to forget that because in those days, political correctness didn't exist. Activist journalism didn't exist. But tactically brutal—which is different from inhumane or even cruel—treatment of enemy militants was normal and expected, and from most accounts, it was effective. War is hell.

It was a rough day, so I apologize for bringing up dark subjects. I really, really should steer clear of the Bad News Channel, formerly known as the news.

I'll end with some increasingly better cheer to put this thingy back on track.

• First, this is refreshing, isn't it?
• Surely this will elicit a smile...?
• Well, how about the Rochester forecast—that's usually good for a laugh:
  
• How about this...?
• Hmmm...okay, try this.
• If all else failed, this one's a sure thing.