Babbleocity 28: Who Can You Trust?

Sometime the answer surprises, others not ...

Karzai - The US has reluctantly accepted Hamid Karzai as President for a second term, even amidst evidence of widespread election rigging that may render as many as 1.5 million votes fraudulent. That's the worst case of it's kind since the US Supreme Court reluctantly (or so I've heard) accepted George W. Bush as President in 2000. Mr. Karzai gained power in Afghanistan with the help of the Bush Administration - maybe they helped him with his campaign strategy too? Trust!

Sinai - You've got cancer. Sorry to hear that. But - you have great insurance and your doctor is sending you to Cedars-Sinai, one of the finest hospitals in the US, maybe the world, where your brain will be scanned ... wait, what did you say? You read in the LA Times they overdosed people with radiation? Over 200 of them, for more than a year? Oh, but it was a problem with the scanning equipment, right? No? You say that Cedars staff changed the settings and forgot to change them back? That's not so good. But, on the other hand, they didn't kill anybody (at least, not right away) - and didn't you hear Cedars was chosen as one of the top hospitals for survivability in the country? Trust!

Banzai - Cruise control is a nice accessory for your car. I can't recall using mine more than a - oh, half dozen times in the last dozen years, but I imagine it can be useful. Engaging that auto throttle control might relax you, relieving the pressure on your right leg so the sciatica won't keep you up all night. The usefulness of that relief, however, is lost immediately if said cruise control engages warp nine and can't be turned off. In fact, it's worse than un-useful, it's lethal, and Toyota is taking the rap for instances of this sort of fatal uselessness happening to their electronically sophisticated cars. So far, Toyota has traced some of the blame to misplaced floormats (high tech system, low tech problem), but investigators are taking a close look at the electronic controls of the cars involved. Apparently they can be difficult to shut off while driving, or at least, the procedure to do so is arcane, and not something easily done while rocketing down the I-5 at 120. Trust!

Be sure to avoid campaign advice from any former Bush or Karzai staffer, always double-check the settings of your brain scanner, and properly adjust (or throw away) your floormats.

And always ask, 'Who Can I Trust?", the answer might surprise you ...