Every Tom, Dick and Harriet will be blogging tonight about the SOTU. I hate to admit it but here goes. I couldn't watch the State of the Union address tonight. Not even a full minute. I know I should and the guilt I feel goes deep. And most of my family will hang their heads in shame.

But Alfred E. Newman is unwatchable and I cannot stand the sound of his voice. So I plan to read it in the New York Times (free registration required) at my liesure. I'm sure the outrage will be endless. So I watched From the Earth to the Moon and The Shield instead - now that's good television. Until tomorrow...

C|Net is turning the microphone off on its C|Net Radio AM 910 San Francisco/San Jose station Jan. 31, according to SF Business Times. What will happen to the station's great blog, I wonder.

Need to keep an eye on crazy governments who think they can control the Internet. According to BizInk, China has blocked access to Blogger.com (read through the column - it's mentioned as a throwaway item at the bottom).

And Finland is looking to impose restrictions on public communication, so says the Electronic Frontier Finland ry. What's next?

I enjoy a good football game. And how can we go wrong when two teams named after pirates go head-to-head? It's sort of like watching One Eyed Willie and the Dread Pirate Roberts duke it out. Who wouldn't enjoy that? Okay - so if you don't enjoy watching a perfect spiral pass land in the arms of running receiver, there's plenty of counterprogramming going on today.

Slightly depressing thoughts. I am older than the SuperBowl - if SuperBowl XXXVII means that the first Super Bowl was held in 1967. Which it does. And I am older than the Big Mac, which is 35 years old. It just doesn't seem possible.

I had a post ready to go a couple of weeks ago blasting the newest fleet of "large SUVs" with names like Hummer, Yukon, Expedition, Navigator - all of which are connected in someway. I just haven't figured out how yet. I didn't post it because I myself now drive a "small SUV" after seven years of driving a Saturn (or "that crappy plastic car" as my husband called it) and I felt a little hypocritical being outraged over large SUVs.

But then I come across this story today on MSNBC about tax breaks for Hummers and other larges SUVs. It gives me a whole other angle through which I can express my outrage -- without guilt. Hallelujah.

Today marks 30 years since the Roe v. Wade decision was handed down. I was going to let the day go by without mentioning this and then came across a blog on a site called Christianity Today. I almost didn't bother but what I found was a balanced round-up of articles on both sides of the issue and in a nutshell shows how far we come and how far we still have to go.

After 13 years of denial (in my house it was called lying), Pete Rose can say "I did it" and "I'm sorry" and is back in baseball. I don't care about the gambling. What bothers me is that he's been lying about it for so long. It's not about the gambling at all anymore. But maybe that's just me.

And if Rose gets into the Hall of Fame, I'm going to scream at the top of my virtual lungs until Shoeless Joe is cleared and takes his rightful place in Cooperstown. (btw, if you've never been and you care even a little about baseball, a trip to the HOF is a must.)

Given what we know now, all the evidence proves that Joe Jackson did nothing to earn the money the Black Sox got for throwing those games. He accepted the money because that's what he was told to do and that pig Commiskey (like most other owners) paid them barely enough to live on. If we can "forgive" Rose for lying and gambling, Jackson's "ban for life" should be lifted at the same time.

A federal judge was almost as outraged as I was about this and has thankfully dismissed a lawsuit against McDonald's brought by a Bronx couple with two overweight daughters. Always nice to see that the responsibility of individuals hasn't been totally forgotten. And speaking of "insipid" and "toxic," Samuel Hirsch is the kind of attorney that gives the rest a bad name.

And is there something in the water in the Bronx? Another lawsuit filed by a Bronx heavyweight against the Big Five (no pun intended) fast food chains is likely to suffer the same fate as the ridiculous McDonald's suit. And all is right with the world. Be back soon - there's a McD's double cheeseburger with my name on it.

Has the bloom faded from the Joe Millionaire rose? Entertainment Weekly's Caroline Kepne seems to think so as does Newsday's Noel Holston. Soulless Joe has a nice ring to it. One can only hope.

Why doesn't Serena Williams find a bra that goes better with her tennis outfit. I'm not really outraged. It's just...sloppy. Or have I once again missed some fashion trend that says underwear is no longer "under." I can't really enjoy the tennis. I keep thinking that her bra strap might slip. Too distracting.

I know I should have something uplifting and moving to say on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. But I don't. He sort of cornered the market in the uplifting and moving speech department.

So it's just another outrage to get off my chest. I'm driving home from work and I look at the car in front of me - an Acura SUV - and I realize I'm watching a movie on a little screen inside the car. I haven't been living in a cave - I've seen the commercials. But to actually see one of these monuments to our boob-tube culture is something else. So kids today can't be made to sit still or be quiet for ANY length of time? A video is now required travel gear to keep a kid behaved in the back seat? How's this for an ad campaign -- Don't worry. They'll never ask "are we there yet" again. Oh wait, maybe that was the commercial I saw.

So now we have Suburban Ussault Vehicles with a motion picture screen between the heads of the driver and the front passenger. Remember, I love television. But good god what is wrong with this picture? If you have to hypnotize your offspring while you drive, it's time to get some serious counseling. And how do you drive with that racket going on anyway - I for one think that would be far more distracting than it is to drive while talking on a cell phone. Maybe there should be a new law.

Speaking of laws, Fear Factor makes me sick to my stomach just reading about the shit they come up with. Literally. Who are the people behind these grotesque stunts? Were they abused early in life? Tonight's episode description from this week's tv guide: "Contestants must consume balut - eggs containing partially developed duck embryos - as well as liquiefied liver and dead silk worms in brine." Ya learn somethin' new every day. And to think I might have gone my entire life not knowing what balut was. Please -- just say no.

I worked as a reporter for an environmental newsletter company and became more familiar with hazardous waste, cement kiln dust, RCRA, Superfund (or CERCLA as we liked to call it), SARA, TSCA and EPCRA as well as USTs, PRPs and RI/FSs than one would think possible. It was a trade newsletter aimed at businesses who needed to know what was happening on the federal and state legislative scene. I loved doing it. But I digress.

I remember being struck by the irony that the biggest polluter in this country is not DuPont or any of the hundreds of other environmental pirates. It's the federal government. Was then, is now. Gotta love a headline like this: Los Alamos: Nuke Storage Snafu . Sorta grabs your attention, doesn't it?

We not only have to live with the fact that Joe Millionaire is out there, we are now treated to "encores," or cable network's fancy name for repeats. And this show has given FOX its highest ratings ever. So now I have only the American viewing public to blame for the next outrageous reality show.

And can we once and for all stop calling them reality shows? How about "cheap TV?" There is nothing REAL about any of this. Here's a reality show for you: a woman wakes up, takes a shower, gets dressed, braves NY morning traffic, sits in front of a computer half the day and attends meetings the other half, is swamped by the email in her inbox, debates what kind of chocolate snack will help get her through the afternoon, braves NY evening traffic, debates the dinner question with her husband, watches TV or reads something, gets into her pajamas, falls asleep, gets up the next morning and does it all over again. Now that's a reality show. But who in their right mind would want to watch anything that boring? (I'm leaving out all the good parts of my life to make a point - it's not that bad. Really.)

I don't know who's more misguided - Michaelene Jenkins of the pro-life Life Resource Network or ABCNews for reporting her organization's new "Feminists for Life" campaign as if it were an actual news story.

It's a thinly veiled attempt by a pro-life organization based in San Diego to fool women into joining their cause. It's just a more insidous weapon in the pro-life movement's crusade to make abortion illegal. According to ABCNews.com, the campaign contends that legalized abortion is not only bad for the unborn children, it's been bad for women and for all of society, because it has allowed employers, lawmakers, colleges and even health care providers to treat pregnancy as an easily avoidable condition. Even health care providers know this: pregnancy is an easily avoidable condition - it's called birth control.

So the frontman on this, Michaelene Jenkins, found herself pregnant 18 years ago. She was pressured by her boyfriend and by her employer, who "all but" threatened to fire her if she stayed pregnant. This is the mid-80s we're talking about here - not the 1950s. She should have sued the bastard. The very long article goes on to say that Jenkins imagined that having an abortion would be empowering [- god knows why - ] and that she felt so violated she had to rethink what it meant to be a feminist. Whoever said having an abortion made her a feminist?

I'm outraged that she and her pro-life organization would use the word feminist anywhere. I have a T-shirt (from NOW) that says: "People call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that distinguish me from a doormat. Rebecca West, age 20, 1913." Amazing, that was 90 years ago and Rebecca figured it out. Maybe Jenkins should have thought for herself (which is all a feminist really is anyway) and not let other people do her thinking for her 18 years ago. But that would mean she'd have to accept responsibility for her actions. Oh, well.

And I'm completely outraged at ABCNews for giving this "story" legitimate news play. Not one mention of the Life Resource Network's pro-life agenda.

Salon.com reprints an AP story that suggests the best option now that Voter News Service is no more. Can you guess? Network news operations should rely on....AP! Attributed to an anonymous network source, of course. Can you stand it? Okay - AP may have gotten the Florida call right in 2000, but in my years as a journalist, I lost track of the times AP got it out first AND got it out wrong. So maybe viewers don't expect their news networks to even try to get it right?

I know I'm beating a dead horse but this outrage doesn't seem to end. The new computer that we ordered at Overstock.com (see Jan. 4 post) did finally arrive...without ANY documentation or operating system software. So begins my next battle with what has become for me the true Evil Empire. Spread the word that they run a really shitty operation and the money you may save isn't worth the headache. A user's manual is pretty basic, right? And without an operating system disk, any file corruption could render the machine useless. I rue the day I ever set eyes on that site - I have never felt that way about a web site and have never really used "I rue the day" in a sentence before (without feeling melodramatic anyway.) I want Overstock to rue the day I became a customer. I'm talking imminent rue-age here.

Let me get this straight. North Korea warns the U.S. not to start World War III. The UN says there is no smoking gun in Iraqi documents but that matters not to the White House. And the top focus in Washington remains Iraq. So I guess we'll need all that oil to survive the nuclear winter?

I love a good television show. And my current favorite, despite last season, remains Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But can I ask you - after seven years, even I knew that the way to kill the UberVamp (don't ask, just watch) was to cut its head off. What took her so long? I'm not really outraged by this - just a little...perplexed.

It's all about Joe Millionaire, or really the proverbial Joe Schmoe. I hate reality television and I keep thinking it can't get any worse. Then they come up with something like this. I'm offended by the whole premise - and every self-respecting human being should feel the same. There is so much real bullshit to deal with - now television is making up bullshit. It borders on criminal. And I'd like to blame the executives at Fox who thought this was a good idea - but the true outrage is that they will likely get the ratings they expect. The one saving grace - there's no opportunity for Joe Millionaire II. Minor consolation, I know.

So for those real millionaires out there, Mr. Bush has a stimulus plan just for you. Hey, maybe all the women rejected by Joe....oh never mind.

My mother wanted a simple thing: buy a computer for my brother as his big Christmas present. I talk my mother into buying it online and I find the perfect computer at an affordable price at Overstock.com on December 14, with a general assurance that the computer will arrive before Christmas. Well, it still hasn't arrived. Honest to god. Despite my calling daily since December 24. It looks like Monday might be the day, but I'm not holding my breath.

For the past two weeks I've been given incorrect information and been lied to by Overstock and their vendor Computer Express - both of whom blame poor UPS (which is total bullshit - UPS is the only reason I have any information at all and they've been the most helpful). So to make a long story short, I was so fed up I blew up this morning and demanded that Overstock make this right in some way - some form of compensation for the stress and effort I've had to make to get the product I ordered. Here's their idea of compensation: Overstock would be willing to give me $5 off my next order - from Overstock of course. Well, that will be a cold day in hell.

And I would advise against anyone else ever using Overstock again. I know my way around ecommerce sites and sometimes shit happens. I can accept that. But that's not what happened here. I was lied to repeatedly, the blame was shifted somewhere else, and there is no accountability whatsoever. The response is: sorry, too bad. But come back soon (I've been spammed three times since 12/24 with their marketing emails.)

It makes me so mad I can't see straight. Overstock is a simple business - take the credit card number and deliver the order. Well, they've got the taking part figured out. They need serious help on the delivery part. Overstock told me that I'm the exception and that most of their customers are satisfied. Frankly, I don't give a shit. How they can screw up something this simple, in this day and age, is beyond me.

Since the $5 coupon was unacceptable, I'm looking for ideas on what would be adequate compensation for someone who goes through something like this. I'm committed to making Overstock as miserable as it's made me these past two weeks so I'm open to suggestions. And if anyone has an email address for Overstock directors or managers, send them my way. I'd love to drop them a line. Or better yet - wouldn't this make a great news story to balance all of the "feel good about buying online" bullshit we've been forced to read lately. Just a thought...