I was listening to the Glenn Beck radio program this morning when he presented an essay on the growing addiction on violence as entertainment. He started with the announcement about the supposed killer of JonBenet Ramsey not being charged with the murder because the evidence didn't link him to the crime, and then he predicted that there would be a movie made giving the man his fifteen minutes of fame. He could well be right.

He compared the situation to the gladiatorial fights in the Roman coliseums, noting the popularity of the crime shows. It reminded me of a television commercial for one of those shows. It showed a beautiful woman awakening to find her head in a plastic bag, her eyes wide with horror as she realized that she was trapped. The camera moved to a close-up of her pouty lips working as she frantically gasped for air, ending with a sickening, sucking last gasp right before the name of the show was given.

I had been so shocked that I hadn't moved to turn it off. I was thinking that they surely would show her being rescued. Unfortunately, the point of the crime show was to solve murder cases. They had actually shown a simulated murder in a commercial to entice people to watch the show and see how the crime they had just witnessed had taken place and how the investigators would bring the criminal to justice.

How is this different from watching two trapped gladiators fight to the death to amuse the masses? Does the social condemnation of the criminal in the end justify this?

And even more, what does this say about our attitude while we watch news reports about the crisis in the Middle East? Why are we horrified when Lebanese women and children being used as human shields by the terrorists are hurt by Israelis trying to strike the terrorists, and yet are largely unmoved by Israeli women and children being hurt by terrorist rocket explosions laced with lethal ball bearings ripping their flesh?

Are we so programmed to identify the politically correct side as the good guys that we won't look at what they are actually doing? And how did we get programmed to identify the Israelis as the bad guys no matter what horrific things are done to them?

The Jews did the politically correct thing in World War II and were herded into gas ovens by the millions. They learned the lesson that the supposedly civilized countries weren't going to help them against an adversary determined to destroy them. The rest of us only took up arms against the Nazis when it became clear that they were going to destroy us as well.

We took up arms against the terrorists when they killed thousands of our citizens at 9/11. Why are we now being scolded to lay them down and get out of Iraq when we not only should support the new government's attempts to stop the violence but should pose a credible threat towards Iran if they won't stop trying to make nuclear weapons which they surely would use on Israel and possibly on us as well?

Apparently the liberals have gotten over their fear of 9/11 and have gone back to their simplistic delusions about who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. They still cling to the notion that the terrorists are rock-throwing underdog mobs fighting for freedom. Didn't they even notice the hundreds of terrorist rockets raining death on Israeli civilians? How can they support the movement which is determined to destroy anyone who isn't such a radical Muslim as they are? That's why the terrorists can use and destroy these Lebanese innocents -- because in their beliefs a moderate Muslim is as much an infidel as a Jew or a Christian!

Didn't the liberals supporting such terrorist groups notice that another plan to murder hundreds of innocent civilians by blowing up their planes headed for America was foiled as it was going into a final rehearsal? The more they publicly support the existing groups, the more they will encourage other groups to form with the belief that terrorism must be right if so many famous people support using it to overthrow America and other countries who stand against terrorism.

There were even news stories about how so many people were deceived into thinking there had been weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The all-knowing liberals were shaking their heads that their news stories weren't convincing these people otherwise. It doesn't seem to matter that Saddam did use such weapons on his own people and that he is on trial for it. It doesn't seem to matter that there have been some of them found in Iraq. It doesn't seem to matter that there is plenty of evidence that most of them were sent to Syria to hide them while the UN dithered and delayed.

Don't they notice anything that doesn't fit into their politically correct beliefs about life?

This gloomy start for my day was only mildly lifted when I realized that the gloom outside my window was from some blessed, much needed rain. We had a little yesterday when a brief thundershower moved through. It had been months since I heard some hearty thunder rumbling as heavy rain plunged down. The rain doesn't last long before moving on, though.

We could use a spent hurricane to dump more rain on us, but it would have to come across the Gulf coast near New Orleans. They have enough trouble with their newly re-elected mayor as it is. He stuck his foot in his mouth with an ill-timed remark about the 9/11 site just before the television warm-up for the anniversary shows. They mentioned his comment when they launched into their anniversary pieces about the results of hurricane Katrina. He was not kindly portrayed, to say the least.

I've been watching the first hurricane threatening Florida while wondering if we are finally into the fall cooling trend. Our daytime highs are still hitting the low 90 degrees F. The swamp iris in the usually soggy strip on one side of the garden lay down in misery this year despite all that watering of nearby areas of the garden. It channels runoff from the neighboring yards as well to the street, which is why Mom put the swamp iris there to have something growing in the normally muddy soil.

The tomatoes are splitting despite my efforts to keep the plants evenly watered. They are blooming again, so maybe there will be a fall crop soon. There are still a few fruits ripening from those set in the rare summer cool spells, enough tomatoes for a couple of salads topped with ripe tomato wedges so far.

I'm working on the second side of the top of the first child's sweater for another sweater box. I moved more yarn from the Coats & Clark box so I could see what I had left to work with. It is almost empty, but the plastic zipper case that holds my current knitting project has enough yarn matched into prospective sweaters that I can see my next few ones to knit.

I'm bumping other craft projects down the Easy To-Do list to use the time for knitting. There are enough news stories about Lebanon trickling around the anniversary show distractions to show that the trouble there is hardly stopped. The Israelis are still watching and stopping the Syrians and Iranians from re-arming the terrorists when they can despite UN protests. Clearly, there is no real cease fire yet.