Why do we accept so many of life's little abuses without question?

Why do we accept that prices must always go up?

Why do we accept that mail order companies always have to add "shipping and handling"? Aren't they a cost of doing business?

Why do we accept that Windows will crash?

Why do we accept that radio and television programming must include more and more commercials?

Why do we accent that out media must continue to get more permissive and more explicit?

Why do we accept "destination charges"?

Why do we accept $4 sodas at movie theaters? Why do we accept that theater owners are ethically entitled to prohibit us from bringing our own food and beverages into movies?

Why do we accept "origination fees", "documentation fees" and "service charges"?

Why do we accept automatic gratuities?

The more we accept these little insults, the more they will add up.

Here's a test of English grammar for you. Parse or diagram this sentence:

O beautiful
For spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!

We sing that proudly and clearly, but the syntax has always bothered me. Where are the subject and verb of that sentence? Answer: nowhere. In fact, the only verbs in the entire first verse are "shed" and "crown" As near as I can tell, that first sentence consists of an adjective and four prepositional phrases.

The second verse DOES have the required subject and verb ("feet beat"), as does the third verse ("heroes loved") and the fourth verse ("dream sees"), but I maintain that the first verse of our beloved anthem is a sentence fragment.

Purists will, of course, challenge me for attempting to parse what was clearly intended as imagery-filled poetry. They're right.

While investigating this, I learned a fascinating tidbit: this poem was not immediately associated with the melody we now hold so dear. In fact, in its early life, it was often sung to "Auld Lang Syne", and the combination actually works very well. Try it!

In my last message, I mentioned how funny it was to hear the phrase "Republican front-runner Arnold Schwarzenegger". I have to admit that pales in comparison to "California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger".

I'll have to reread Revelations, but I'm sure this is one of the signs of the apocalypse.

Wasn't this in Nostradamus?

When the gap-toothed weightlifter
Rules over the land of the golden sun
Humanity slides into oblivion

"Republican front-runner Arnold Schwarzenegger": now there's a phrase I never thought I'd hear on NPR.