Poll

Most of us learn right and wrong at a pretty early age, and from there it’s mostly just a matter of choice. I may know whether I “should” or “shouldn’t” do something, as dictated by moral standards — whether social, innate, or religious — but it’s still up to me to make a decision on what action to take.

This is no great bit of insight, and I suppose we could debate my flippant wording here or the origin of human morality or what law — lesser or greater — we should be required to adhere to. The point is, the vast majority of the time we aren’t ignorant of the rules and we sometimes choose to break them. If we’re caught, we may be subject to punishment from our peers or those in authority. If we do “get away with it,” we still have to deal with ourselves, whether that means our conscience or eventual moral deterioration, and then aren’t we also held accountable by a higher power?

This is sounding a little serious… Maybe because it is. But as with most things here, my real inspiration is rooted in annoyance, sarcasm, and just a sprinkle of spite. Of course the serious topics go down smoother when mixed that way.

So what about modern crime and punishment? What punishments fit the crimes and what crimes fit some other gruesome, humiliating, or comical form of discipline?

Take this one for example: pizza boxes with wanted posters for deadbeat dads. The Butler County Child Enforcement Agency started using Cincinnati pizza joints to share with the public the faces of those wanted for past-due child support. Is this helpful or harmful? Shameful for the offender, but also possibly shameful for the child who was already left behind by their parent?

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I don’t consider myself a hunter. My dad is a fantastic hunter though, and my family is full of hunters. I certainly grew up in the woods, poking at fresh carcasses, learning about death firsthand with the smell of gun powder in my nostrils. But the hunting thing never really caught on with me. I figure this is mostly because I’m such an animal lover. Not that you can’t love & appreciate animals & still blow their brains out, but you know…

So despite my preference to not do the hunting thing myself, I certainly could again if there was some sort of Red Dawn type of situation & I and my fellow Wolverines had to retreat into the Colorado mountains to hide from the Ruskies. And oddly enough, as queasy as I get with needles, hospital shows, etc., animal gore doesn’t really bother me. I’ve field dressed a deer, I’ve been elbow-deep in chest cavity, smelled the delicious aroma of fresh intestine. But show me a needle on TV & I freak. Go figure…

But I guess my question is, how many of you actively hunt, or have hunted in the past? If not, & you find yourself too sensitive to hunt, have you fished? Do you take the hunting thing even further and hunt for sport, when your prey doesn’t yield tasty vittles? Or would you? (I assume none of you trade pelts for wares and foodstuffs…)

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I’ve asked this question to many people before, but never here, so this may be new to some of you…

As I’ve mentioned, I love the moon. I stare. I sit and stare. Or stand and stare. Or drive and stare. If there is indeed a man in the moon — my love for cheese aside — my tendency to stare could only be described as creepy. And I suppose a little gay.

But I digress… My question to you, dear reader, is this: if you could only see either the sun or the moon for the rest of your life, which would it be? Don’t get too sciencey on me here. The lack of moon will not affect the tide. Not seeing the sun will not affect crops, the earth will not become a frigid wasteland… We’re just talking about what you see.

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So over the past year, participation on the site has gone up. Not by much, of course, since it’s invitation-only… Actually, it fluctuates a lot as well, & not just when my posting fluctuates. So real quick while I’m thinking about it: you all suck. Where’s the commitment? What, are there other sites that matter? But anyway, what *has* gone up significantly is the number of hits the site gets from strangers. That makes me wonder if I should open the site up to the general publique.

Some of you regulars aren’t that used to an online community of people you don’t know, but I might remind you that you kinda have that now. The only common bond here is me. So in essence, you’ve sort of gotten to know each other, and I’ve made no new friends. Way to hold me back, guys.

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I should mention that the TRIO network has started playing episodes of classic Late Night with David Letterman, which immediately placed them on my favorites list so I could catch Letterman as I’m tearing through my fav channels. Coincidentally, that’s how E! made it on my favorites list: When Comedy Central dropped SNL and started playing crazy amounts of stupid MAD TV episodes (*not* meant to influence the current poll, I swear), I had to add E! to my favs so I wouldn’t miss SNL. So now I have to put up w/ random bits of celebrity gossip as I flip through channels…

But I digress… The point is this: classic Late Night on TRIO. If you don’t get TRIO, then I guess I don’t know what to tell you… Maybe watch MAD or something…

Okay, I know it may seem silly to the Fishbowl peeps, but not everyone is familiar w/ Homestar Runner. I realized this when I was putting up the latest poll. So those of you who are familiar, vote for your fav character. I’ve left Strong Bad out, b/c he’s obviously the best. If you disagree, do so here. Also, for the benefit of our ignorant friends, you fans post links to your favorite SB email or toons or whatever.

check-it-out-check-it-out-check-it-out… (Yes, I voted for Bubs.)

New feature on the site: pols. Err… make that polls. Not Polish people. Don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea and invade…

So for some quick fun, there’ll always be a poll on the right side of the site. The latest poll will always show there on the sidebar. If you wanna see the results from the old polls, click on the Polls Archive link below the active poll.

If you have any questions or comments about this feature or a particular poll, post them here. I’m still working out the kinks, so if you notice anything queer, post that too.