Rant Of The Day is where I get to mouth off about whatever I feel like for however long I like. Theoretically, I'll update my whinge/opinion piece every weekday; in practice, maybe not so often.

Menace to society

As I write this, actor Robert Downey Jr remains in a prison somewhere in Los Angeles as part of a continuing drug-taking debacle he's landed himself in. According to a wire report I read today, he was refused bail by a judge who said that he was a "danger to society and himself".

With all due respect (which may not be much) to the US legal system, I hardly think Downey Jr really falls into this category. Oh sure, he appeared in Less Than Zero, but everyone is entitled to a couple of mistakes, aren't they? If we're going to incacerate people for the potential danger they present to society, then I can think of plenty of candidates with a much greater eligibility:

• Michael Bolton (crimes against hair)
• Celine Dion (crimes against musical taste)
• Ray Martin's hair designer (flouting international environmental laws on the use of plastic)
• Optus' ad agency (crimes against intelligence)
• People with prams in the CBD (no further comment required)
• John Howard (ditto)
• Naomi Campbell's ghost writer (for crimes against literature)
• Foxtel (for not getting to my area yet)
• Microsoft (because Windows 95 still crashes on my machine)

Sure, the last couple may be a bit personal, but something tells me I'm not the only one bearing a grudge in that department. Further nominations for Gusworld's list of menaces to society are welcome at the usual address. We refuse to start a 'Free Downey' campaign, though.

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