Well, sports fans, it’s been quite a month, I must say.
First, we had the Battle of the Titans. L.S.U. vs. Bama in a boring game, unless you enjoy war in the trenches as represented by two superb defenses.
Then we end the month with L.S.U. putting on a show of offense, after sleeping through the first quarter and falling behind 14-0 but waking up in time to wallop Arkansas 41-17 and authoritatively establish their unanimous choice as #1.
In between several major contenders fell by the wayside with Oklahoma losing twice, Oklahoma State once, Boise State down one and Stanford falling to Oregon. Now all we need is for Georgia to beat L.S.U. next Saturday to totally muddy the waters for the B.C.S.
The Big Ten finally sorted itself out to two contenders who meet next Saturday: Wisconsin vs. Michigan State. The Michigan-Ohio State turned, much to my surprise, into a doozie; I expected the Wolverines to rout them. But the two best teams are meeting for the title.
Will a B.C.S. title game between L.S.U. and Alabama be a scoring fest next time?
In other sports, basketball is off to a roaring start with a host of good collegiate teams getting warmed up. And UConn getting knocked off---what an early season shocker! In the meantime, the N.B.A. finally sorts itself out and will have a good part of a season. Baseball, surprise of surprises, reaches a long-term agreement quickly. David Stern better check to see what they were smoking.
Roger Federer, the old man at thirty, reels off seventeen straight matches to win three tourneys, including the year-ending prestigious ATP Tennis Championship where the top eight point finishers play off in a round robin format----and Roger doesn’t lose a match and is back at number three in the world. Plus he crushed his old nemesis, Rafa Nadal, en route to the title, 6-3, 6-0!
And the N.F.L., to say the least, has been lively. The Packers continue to be the class of the league, but I think someone will knock ‘em off before the end of the regular season. Aaron Rodgers is in some kind of nirvana as a quarterback with his unreal q.b. rating. New Orleans seems to be shaping up, while Houston is showing real class. The Niners continue to surprise while the Chargers disappoint. I don’t think the Brady Brunch will make it all the way in spite of Tom’s usual outstanding credentials. And Tim Tebow is living proof of the power of prayer. Dallas seems to be the Kardiac Kids. Pittsburgh has got its work cut out, particularly after so many injuries, trying to stop the Ravens. And my Browns continue only improving by millimeters---not enough. The Lions better put Suh on a tranquilizer. Sanchez finally had a good day for the Jets but maybe too late. The Giants are doubtful unless they reach new heights in December.
December and the New Year will keep us on our toes. Who will do what to whom? It’ll be fun finding out.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD
I hope all of you had a good Thanksgiving weekend. My wife, visiting daughter and I drove across Florida to join another daughter and family on the east coast for a very fine time. Believe me, we needed it.
The earlier part of the week was not so good, as I received an email from England and the realtor who advised me that, at the last possible minute, the proposed buyer of our English house, had withdrawn her offer because she discovered, in a surveyor’s report, that an electrical substation servicing a nearby college was located about 75 yards from our house, and she was alarmed by “an adverse health risk”. What a bummer! This substation is located near the bank of garages servicing our series of six town houses. It is a very small substation, contained within a link fence of maybe 20 square feet, I might add.
I pointed out to her in an email that it is not as if a grid of power lines was looming over the house and that the history of this complex is filled with people living into their eighties and nineties; in fact I listed the age of the occupants over the last thirty years in each of the six town houses and no one died less than 80! Of course, this will mean nothing to this silly cow who has a fixed fear in her head. So, back to square one by informing the realtors and getting them back in the hunt for a new buyer. In the meantime, the house is empty, except for a few items the buyer had said she would buy. We could have rented the house furnished temporarily until a sale was made, but now that is out of the question.
English real estate law is similar to ours in that either party can get out before a contract is signed, but in England there is no “earnest money” paid by the buyer at the start but only after exchange of contracts is made. We were in that latter process. And here the resemblance ends. Then in England they put a deposit down and later the full amount. The whole process is unnecessarily laborious and unfair for the seller. So, I’m literally out time and money.
Such is life. You pick up the pieces and carry on.
The earlier part of the week was not so good, as I received an email from England and the realtor who advised me that, at the last possible minute, the proposed buyer of our English house, had withdrawn her offer because she discovered, in a surveyor’s report, that an electrical substation servicing a nearby college was located about 75 yards from our house, and she was alarmed by “an adverse health risk”. What a bummer! This substation is located near the bank of garages servicing our series of six town houses. It is a very small substation, contained within a link fence of maybe 20 square feet, I might add.
I pointed out to her in an email that it is not as if a grid of power lines was looming over the house and that the history of this complex is filled with people living into their eighties and nineties; in fact I listed the age of the occupants over the last thirty years in each of the six town houses and no one died less than 80! Of course, this will mean nothing to this silly cow who has a fixed fear in her head. So, back to square one by informing the realtors and getting them back in the hunt for a new buyer. In the meantime, the house is empty, except for a few items the buyer had said she would buy. We could have rented the house furnished temporarily until a sale was made, but now that is out of the question.
English real estate law is similar to ours in that either party can get out before a contract is signed, but in England there is no “earnest money” paid by the buyer at the start but only after exchange of contracts is made. We were in that latter process. And here the resemblance ends. Then in England they put a deposit down and later the full amount. The whole process is unnecessarily laborious and unfair for the seller. So, I’m literally out time and money.
Such is life. You pick up the pieces and carry on.
Monday, November 21, 2011
THE WINTER OF MY DISCONTENT
Every day, in every media we are showing the strain. It is a worldwide phenomenon where dissidents the world over express their outrage at loss of freedom or the state of the economy---and the world, for that matter.
Here in the U.S.A. the demonstrations of the “Occupy Wall Street” have infected the whole country with growing demonstrations in major cities. I even read of one case in Memphis, Tennessee where “Occupy Memphis” proponents found some common ground with the Tea Party (can you believe it?), at least in their discontent with the state of the economy and the government. Adversity doth create strange bedfellows on occasions…
A few nights ago, I stayed up long enough---rare for me---to watch on P.B.S. the Charlie Rose Show where Charlie always has interesting and challenging guests. One of these guests the night I watched was Lawrence Lissig, a Harvard Professor who has just published a new book, “Republic Lost: How Congress Corrupts Politics and How to Fix it.” Charlie was questioning in his usual trenchant way about the book, and I became intrigued.
The essence of Lissig’s theme was the dreadful state of decay and total governmental paralysis in Congress, the major cause of which, according to Lissig, is the corrupting power of money, or “funders”, as he referred to them, on Congress, which has become totally compromised. The Super-Pacs and Lobbyists use their greedy hands to peddle their influences and extend their hold on Congressional personnel, who have a good thing going and don’t want to kill the golden goose. I was so impressed by his discussion that I ordered the book on amazon.com and am looking forward to reading it.
The idea isn’t original with Lissig; many of us have felt this way for a long time: that the power of the elite and moneyed .001 is pervading and abusing our government. How many times have you received an email, deploring the privileged benefits Congress has bestow upon itself and calling for reform, which is highly unlikely with the proverbial foxes guarding the henhouse, unless a political tsunami sweeps away the existing Congress? And it’s not simply Congress. The Executive branch is not above benefiting with political favors those who support them. Plus, we have a Supreme Court that I think is now tilted to support the status quo and resist change. It is not a charming portrait of government.
I’m usually a glass-half-full kind of guy, but I must say I have never been more worried about our country---and the world---than now. We have lived through World Wars, a Cold War and regional wars in our lifetime, but I have never had such a feeling of impending disaster, which, I suspect, will be an economic one and could have all of us at each other’s throats in a chaotic world. This feeling of malaise keeps growing stronger; I feel like I’m living near the edge of a precipice.
This is a new feeling for me, and I hope I’m dead wrong. I hope we can come to our senses and begin to right some wrongs. We need bipartisan cooperation to stimulate the economy; we need fiscal regulation to control the greedy impulses of a few; we need to push for democracy in the world and not by military might; we need to work internationally together to solve fiscal, climatic and political problems. I am fed up with any reforms being put off until the 2012 election---and then I wonder what and if the changes will be.
I don’t enjoy the winter of my discontent.
Here in the U.S.A. the demonstrations of the “Occupy Wall Street” have infected the whole country with growing demonstrations in major cities. I even read of one case in Memphis, Tennessee where “Occupy Memphis” proponents found some common ground with the Tea Party (can you believe it?), at least in their discontent with the state of the economy and the government. Adversity doth create strange bedfellows on occasions…
A few nights ago, I stayed up long enough---rare for me---to watch on P.B.S. the Charlie Rose Show where Charlie always has interesting and challenging guests. One of these guests the night I watched was Lawrence Lissig, a Harvard Professor who has just published a new book, “Republic Lost: How Congress Corrupts Politics and How to Fix it.” Charlie was questioning in his usual trenchant way about the book, and I became intrigued.
The essence of Lissig’s theme was the dreadful state of decay and total governmental paralysis in Congress, the major cause of which, according to Lissig, is the corrupting power of money, or “funders”, as he referred to them, on Congress, which has become totally compromised. The Super-Pacs and Lobbyists use their greedy hands to peddle their influences and extend their hold on Congressional personnel, who have a good thing going and don’t want to kill the golden goose. I was so impressed by his discussion that I ordered the book on amazon.com and am looking forward to reading it.
The idea isn’t original with Lissig; many of us have felt this way for a long time: that the power of the elite and moneyed .001 is pervading and abusing our government. How many times have you received an email, deploring the privileged benefits Congress has bestow upon itself and calling for reform, which is highly unlikely with the proverbial foxes guarding the henhouse, unless a political tsunami sweeps away the existing Congress? And it’s not simply Congress. The Executive branch is not above benefiting with political favors those who support them. Plus, we have a Supreme Court that I think is now tilted to support the status quo and resist change. It is not a charming portrait of government.
I’m usually a glass-half-full kind of guy, but I must say I have never been more worried about our country---and the world---than now. We have lived through World Wars, a Cold War and regional wars in our lifetime, but I have never had such a feeling of impending disaster, which, I suspect, will be an economic one and could have all of us at each other’s throats in a chaotic world. This feeling of malaise keeps growing stronger; I feel like I’m living near the edge of a precipice.
This is a new feeling for me, and I hope I’m dead wrong. I hope we can come to our senses and begin to right some wrongs. We need bipartisan cooperation to stimulate the economy; we need fiscal regulation to control the greedy impulses of a few; we need to push for democracy in the world and not by military might; we need to work internationally together to solve fiscal, climatic and political problems. I am fed up with any reforms being put off until the 2012 election---and then I wonder what and if the changes will be.
I don’t enjoy the winter of my discontent.
Friday, November 18, 2011
INTIMATIONS OF MORTALITY
More frequently than ever, I am reminded of my mortality, although I have been blessed with exceptionally good health for my age. My primary doctor told me the other day my body is ten years or more younger than my actual age, and I am told I don't look my age. The fact remains, I'm a mid-Octogenerian.
My doctor also told me my genes are catching up with me. My father in his elder years had diabetes, and my blood sugar is elevated enough for my doctor to warn me to alter my lifestyle, unless, in his words, I want "to prick, prick, prick a lot". I don't have diabetes but am in the potentially dangerous zone.
All my family have terrific sweet tooths, lapping up chocolate, pies,cookies,ice cream---you name it. Now I have to start being sensible and make the sweet tooth an occasional luxury. I also have to watch the carbs----bread, pasta, pizza, beer, booze and the like. Fortunately, my wife doesn't use a lot of white flour or white rice, preferring whole grains and brown rice, which are lower in carbohydrate percentages. I'm sure one of the contributors to my elevation in blood sugar has been the summers in England where the desserts (puddings, as the Brits call them), heavy cream and great beer no doubt sabotage my blood sugar.
I also have had for some time a swelling above my left ankle. it may be a lymph node problem or, I found out yesterday after seeing a vein specialist my primary doctor referred me to, edema. I had an ultrasound of my legs and will see the specialist again in early January. In the meantime, he suggests I wear support hose and see if this helps. He feels he can take action to fix it. Since I wear shorts most of the time, I'm going to look pretty silly in support hose! I don't have pain and can still follow my normal gym and other active routines, so I'm not suffering.
As an old fart, these are really not major problems. I have been extremely lucky compared to most people my age. It's simply little reminders that the body parts don't last forever and the machine ultimately breaks down. I'll try a good maintenance program and see if I can extend the warranty a bit longer.
My doctor also told me my genes are catching up with me. My father in his elder years had diabetes, and my blood sugar is elevated enough for my doctor to warn me to alter my lifestyle, unless, in his words, I want "to prick, prick, prick a lot". I don't have diabetes but am in the potentially dangerous zone.
All my family have terrific sweet tooths, lapping up chocolate, pies,cookies,ice cream---you name it. Now I have to start being sensible and make the sweet tooth an occasional luxury. I also have to watch the carbs----bread, pasta, pizza, beer, booze and the like. Fortunately, my wife doesn't use a lot of white flour or white rice, preferring whole grains and brown rice, which are lower in carbohydrate percentages. I'm sure one of the contributors to my elevation in blood sugar has been the summers in England where the desserts (puddings, as the Brits call them), heavy cream and great beer no doubt sabotage my blood sugar.
I also have had for some time a swelling above my left ankle. it may be a lymph node problem or, I found out yesterday after seeing a vein specialist my primary doctor referred me to, edema. I had an ultrasound of my legs and will see the specialist again in early January. In the meantime, he suggests I wear support hose and see if this helps. He feels he can take action to fix it. Since I wear shorts most of the time, I'm going to look pretty silly in support hose! I don't have pain and can still follow my normal gym and other active routines, so I'm not suffering.
As an old fart, these are really not major problems. I have been extremely lucky compared to most people my age. It's simply little reminders that the body parts don't last forever and the machine ultimately breaks down. I'll try a good maintenance program and see if I can extend the warranty a bit longer.
Monday, November 14, 2011
STRICTLY FOR THE BIRDS
Periodically I like to keep you abreast of what is happening in our bird world.
As you may remember, if you have read this column for any length of time, we have a dead palm tree right next to our house, about fifteen or sixteen feet in height which has been inhabited for several years by red-crested woodpeckers. Later, we had a screech owl making his home there, but I don't think the woodpeckers made good neighbors, so he (or she) moved over to a neighboring strangler fig tree in front of our house. One of my neighbors had a creche outside his house at Christmas last year and came out one day to find the screech owl next to baby Jesus.
The woodpeckers are still going strong. Every morning , as I awaken around seven, I hear a drumming on the metal flashing around our chimney, and I know that one of the males is demonstrating his machismo. This drumming is to attract the females, just like some jock on a playing field preening and showing off for his chick. We put out some birdseed on a corner of our porch for our tenants as a neighborly gesture. One day I saw from our powder room window which overlooks the tree and that corner of the porch one of the females was partaking of the seed when a bigger male pileated woodpecker, whom I had never seen before or since, appeared and chased her away so he could eat. Then a crow arrived, and they eyed each other warily like a couple of old gunslingers before the pileated woodpecker moved on.
Then last week, as I was making my early morning potty call, what do I see out the window but a really big red-shouldered hawk, perched on top of the palm, surveying the kingdom. He was magnificent and looked every inch the part of the predator king of the neighborhood. One of my neighbors has seen him, and one day witnessed a fight for a fish between an osprey, an eagle and the hawk---and the hawk won that round!
I have seen him on the perch a couple of more times and called for my wife, but, by the time she got there, he was gone. Then, a couple of evenings ago, as we were backing out of the garage, lo and behold he was sitting on a telephone box on the edge of our property, and she got to see him before he swiftly winged off.
I haven't seen the woodpeckers for a few days, but I know they're around because of the drumming on the roof. I suspect they are still in the palm but lay low when the Godfather comes around.
I'm looking forward to new faces and new adventures in the bird kingdom. It's great entertainment!
P.S. My techie grandson came to visit and changed my music, which was overdue. Hope you like it. Go to the list below for your choice of ten.
As you may remember, if you have read this column for any length of time, we have a dead palm tree right next to our house, about fifteen or sixteen feet in height which has been inhabited for several years by red-crested woodpeckers. Later, we had a screech owl making his home there, but I don't think the woodpeckers made good neighbors, so he (or she) moved over to a neighboring strangler fig tree in front of our house. One of my neighbors had a creche outside his house at Christmas last year and came out one day to find the screech owl next to baby Jesus.
The woodpeckers are still going strong. Every morning , as I awaken around seven, I hear a drumming on the metal flashing around our chimney, and I know that one of the males is demonstrating his machismo. This drumming is to attract the females, just like some jock on a playing field preening and showing off for his chick. We put out some birdseed on a corner of our porch for our tenants as a neighborly gesture. One day I saw from our powder room window which overlooks the tree and that corner of the porch one of the females was partaking of the seed when a bigger male pileated woodpecker, whom I had never seen before or since, appeared and chased her away so he could eat. Then a crow arrived, and they eyed each other warily like a couple of old gunslingers before the pileated woodpecker moved on.
Then last week, as I was making my early morning potty call, what do I see out the window but a really big red-shouldered hawk, perched on top of the palm, surveying the kingdom. He was magnificent and looked every inch the part of the predator king of the neighborhood. One of my neighbors has seen him, and one day witnessed a fight for a fish between an osprey, an eagle and the hawk---and the hawk won that round!
I have seen him on the perch a couple of more times and called for my wife, but, by the time she got there, he was gone. Then, a couple of evenings ago, as we were backing out of the garage, lo and behold he was sitting on a telephone box on the edge of our property, and she got to see him before he swiftly winged off.
I haven't seen the woodpeckers for a few days, but I know they're around because of the drumming on the roof. I suspect they are still in the palm but lay low when the Godfather comes around.
I'm looking forward to new faces and new adventures in the bird kingdom. It's great entertainment!
P.S. My techie grandson came to visit and changed my music, which was overdue. Hope you like it. Go to the list below for your choice of ten.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
BIRTHDAY MUSINGS
I turn 84 today and, in the timeless words of former Prime Minister Clement Atlee, when asked how it feels to be 80, he replied, "Considering the alternatives, it feels rather good". My back acts up occasionally, my arthritis flares---but I'm here and still have my mind--- I think.
I'm the same age as Joe Paterno, but I'm sure I will have a much better day than he. I had sense enough some years ago to realize that my prime was past and it was time to retire. Joe read too many of his press notices and stayed too long. A movement to encourage him to retire surfaced in 2004, but he rode it out. It's one thing to want to continue to contribute to the world and keep occupied, but you have to realize when the hour to hang it up has come. Joe's came some time ago. Now enforced retirement---firing under a euphemism---is the only course of action. and what is left has badly tarnished the reputation of a university and permanently scarred too many young lives. What an unecessary and tragic waste.
My friend, Grumpy, wrote one of his usually wry and perceptive commentaries the other day on Bill Clinton and how good that era was. He's right---to some extent---and I agree that Bill Clinton intellectually was extremely bright. (His wife may be even brighter...) Bill Clinton was also extremely lucky to come along at a time when economic forces were on the rise, and he was smart enough to let them run. But I also hold him responsible for assisting in making the moral compass go awry. The seeds of our increasing immorality were already there; he simply personified them at the highest level.
I'm not talking so much about sexual morality as ethical morality, our value system. Why can't we fudge the rules a bit if we can make an extra buck. Screw the little guy---what's he done for us recently? Maybe fought a few wars, but that's history. The brass rule, not the golden: do unto others before they do it unto you. Recent political and business facts of life bear out my concern.
Actually, I think the roots of this moral decay go back to the Nixon era and Watergate when the great disillusionment set in. Then came the Gipper's time: Ronald Reagan personally was a decent man,but his administration set the tone for a selfish individualism which stretched the rules---it's O.K. if it felt good and if it worked. It never got any better under later administrations.
I'm so old I can remember (barely) a time when, if you shook hands, you had a deal. Want to try that today?
Forgive the rantings of an old man. i would simply like, in my remaining years, to see a return to CIVILITY, the ability to agree or disagree by listening to each other when in discussion, I'd like to see HONESTY, facing up to truth and dealing with problems. I'd like to see MORALITY, living within ethical standards when we deal with each other.
As I blow out the candles (with several breaths, I'm sure), I'll make that my wish.
I'm the same age as Joe Paterno, but I'm sure I will have a much better day than he. I had sense enough some years ago to realize that my prime was past and it was time to retire. Joe read too many of his press notices and stayed too long. A movement to encourage him to retire surfaced in 2004, but he rode it out. It's one thing to want to continue to contribute to the world and keep occupied, but you have to realize when the hour to hang it up has come. Joe's came some time ago. Now enforced retirement---firing under a euphemism---is the only course of action. and what is left has badly tarnished the reputation of a university and permanently scarred too many young lives. What an unecessary and tragic waste.
My friend, Grumpy, wrote one of his usually wry and perceptive commentaries the other day on Bill Clinton and how good that era was. He's right---to some extent---and I agree that Bill Clinton intellectually was extremely bright. (His wife may be even brighter...) Bill Clinton was also extremely lucky to come along at a time when economic forces were on the rise, and he was smart enough to let them run. But I also hold him responsible for assisting in making the moral compass go awry. The seeds of our increasing immorality were already there; he simply personified them at the highest level.
I'm not talking so much about sexual morality as ethical morality, our value system. Why can't we fudge the rules a bit if we can make an extra buck. Screw the little guy---what's he done for us recently? Maybe fought a few wars, but that's history. The brass rule, not the golden: do unto others before they do it unto you. Recent political and business facts of life bear out my concern.
Actually, I think the roots of this moral decay go back to the Nixon era and Watergate when the great disillusionment set in. Then came the Gipper's time: Ronald Reagan personally was a decent man,but his administration set the tone for a selfish individualism which stretched the rules---it's O.K. if it felt good and if it worked. It never got any better under later administrations.
I'm so old I can remember (barely) a time when, if you shook hands, you had a deal. Want to try that today?
Forgive the rantings of an old man. i would simply like, in my remaining years, to see a return to CIVILITY, the ability to agree or disagree by listening to each other when in discussion, I'd like to see HONESTY, facing up to truth and dealing with problems. I'd like to see MORALITY, living within ethical standards when we deal with each other.
As I blow out the candles (with several breaths, I'm sure), I'll make that my wish.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
POWER PLAYS
Isn’t it amazing the recent rash of sexual allegations or, to use Bill Clinton’s classic adjective, “inappropriate” behaviour. First, Herman Cain gets accused of harassment and inappropriate advances which he has exacerbated by his clumsy handling of the whole situation. Now we get the sad and disgusting allegations against Jerry Sandusky, Joe Paterno’s longtime assistant and defensive specialist at Penn State, who has seemed to demonstrate another kind of specialty, accused of being a deviant sexual predator with young boys.
I’ve quoted before Henry Kissinger’s famous maxim, “Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.” Being in a position of responsibility gives the perpetrator a sense of invulnerability---I’m powerful and can do what I want. And sometimes that works for the benefit of the power broker, but, then again, it can backfire.
It is incredible how unzipping your fly can create seismic world changes on occasions. Look at Mark Anthony and Cleopatra, Napoleon and Josephine, Paris and Helen of Troy, to name a few obvious world shakers and movers. Then there are the just plain tawdry ones like JFK and Marilyn (among others), Bill and Monica, Eliot and the D.C. hooker. That tiny portion of the total anatomy has a disproportionately huge effect on occasions.
I think the Sandusky accusations particularly sad and capable of sullying the reputation of a very fine university, State University of Pennsylvania, and their legendary coach, Joe Paterno. Paterno had nothing to do with the sordid mess, but it certainly appears that his casual handling of the problem does not reflect well on his judgment. He fulfilled his legal requirements, but I don’t think he fulfilled his moral responsibility. Maybe at his advanced age he just doesn’t want to deal with it, but that is not a solution or resolution of the problem. I thought Ohio State’s recent mess a classic in mishandling; now it is more than matched by Penn State with many young lives tragically affected.
Sometimes I despair at the amorality and immorality so prevalent today. Maybe it’s always been that way, but we seem to have more than our fair share these days. It can drive a man to drink.
Bartender, make it a double.
I’ve quoted before Henry Kissinger’s famous maxim, “Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.” Being in a position of responsibility gives the perpetrator a sense of invulnerability---I’m powerful and can do what I want. And sometimes that works for the benefit of the power broker, but, then again, it can backfire.
It is incredible how unzipping your fly can create seismic world changes on occasions. Look at Mark Anthony and Cleopatra, Napoleon and Josephine, Paris and Helen of Troy, to name a few obvious world shakers and movers. Then there are the just plain tawdry ones like JFK and Marilyn (among others), Bill and Monica, Eliot and the D.C. hooker. That tiny portion of the total anatomy has a disproportionately huge effect on occasions.
I think the Sandusky accusations particularly sad and capable of sullying the reputation of a very fine university, State University of Pennsylvania, and their legendary coach, Joe Paterno. Paterno had nothing to do with the sordid mess, but it certainly appears that his casual handling of the problem does not reflect well on his judgment. He fulfilled his legal requirements, but I don’t think he fulfilled his moral responsibility. Maybe at his advanced age he just doesn’t want to deal with it, but that is not a solution or resolution of the problem. I thought Ohio State’s recent mess a classic in mishandling; now it is more than matched by Penn State with many young lives tragically affected.
Sometimes I despair at the amorality and immorality so prevalent today. Maybe it’s always been that way, but we seem to have more than our fair share these days. It can drive a man to drink.
Bartender, make it a double.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
THE SILLY SEASON
Well, the world moves on, as population hits 7 billion. I’m glad I won’t be around in 2050 or so when it hits 20 billion! Sales of deodorant should hit new highs…
In the mean time, in our current world, we keep seeing the human comedy (or tragedy, depending on your viewpoint) whirling on like the merry-go-round life is. And the horses asses of the world continue as models of consistency.
I see that paragon of goodness and world benefactor, Kim Kardashian, is divorcing her husband, the N.B.A. Nets Kris Humphries after 72 days of marriage. Why was this not hard to predict? After the lavish and hyperbolic wedding, reality sets in. I hate to see marriage treated like a commodity on the market, bought and sold as the spirit moves you.
Congratulations to Michelle Bachman for her latest gem: that she doesn’t really care about the kids of emigrants being citizens. This woman invented foot-in-mouth disease. Ed Rollins, her former campaign manager, says she is “out of money and ideas”. Even the Tea Party don’t want her.
Congress and the Presidential candidates continue to put the emphasis on all the wrong concepts. Quit debating the health plan, emigration and tax formulae---just debate how to get jobs going and nudge the economy upward and onward. For once, put the good of the people ahead of partisan politics.
And the Super-Committee, charged with coming up with a fiscal plan to balance the budget ultimately, seems to be bogged down in partisan intransigence. Isn’t the idea of a bipartisan committee that both sides give a little? What am I missing?
And I note our dear friends, those pillars of American enterprise, the big banks, like Morgan Chase and B of A, are doing their usual p.r. miracles by charging fees for using debit cards---and then backpedaling furiously when the people---shock of shocks---revolt! Paul Volcker, the former fed Chairman and august pundit of matters economic, says the size of these banks need to be reduced and strict regulations applied. This man was one of your advisers, Mr. President, are you listening?
9-9-9 or solid 20. Come on, guys, get serious and really study improvements to the tax code. Cute gimmicky numbers aren’t the answer. Parry is spending too much time extricating his foot from his mouth and now Herman Cain has to tap dance around these recent sexual allegations.
Ah yes, the silly season is in full swing.
One wonderful note: Mona Simpson’e eulogy for her brother, Steve Jobs, and quoting his last words: Oh, wow,” repeated three times. Do you think he saw what we hope we’ll see? That warms an old man’s heart. And that’s a good note to go out on.
In the mean time, in our current world, we keep seeing the human comedy (or tragedy, depending on your viewpoint) whirling on like the merry-go-round life is. And the horses asses of the world continue as models of consistency.
I see that paragon of goodness and world benefactor, Kim Kardashian, is divorcing her husband, the N.B.A. Nets Kris Humphries after 72 days of marriage. Why was this not hard to predict? After the lavish and hyperbolic wedding, reality sets in. I hate to see marriage treated like a commodity on the market, bought and sold as the spirit moves you.
Congratulations to Michelle Bachman for her latest gem: that she doesn’t really care about the kids of emigrants being citizens. This woman invented foot-in-mouth disease. Ed Rollins, her former campaign manager, says she is “out of money and ideas”. Even the Tea Party don’t want her.
Congress and the Presidential candidates continue to put the emphasis on all the wrong concepts. Quit debating the health plan, emigration and tax formulae---just debate how to get jobs going and nudge the economy upward and onward. For once, put the good of the people ahead of partisan politics.
And the Super-Committee, charged with coming up with a fiscal plan to balance the budget ultimately, seems to be bogged down in partisan intransigence. Isn’t the idea of a bipartisan committee that both sides give a little? What am I missing?
And I note our dear friends, those pillars of American enterprise, the big banks, like Morgan Chase and B of A, are doing their usual p.r. miracles by charging fees for using debit cards---and then backpedaling furiously when the people---shock of shocks---revolt! Paul Volcker, the former fed Chairman and august pundit of matters economic, says the size of these banks need to be reduced and strict regulations applied. This man was one of your advisers, Mr. President, are you listening?
9-9-9 or solid 20. Come on, guys, get serious and really study improvements to the tax code. Cute gimmicky numbers aren’t the answer. Parry is spending too much time extricating his foot from his mouth and now Herman Cain has to tap dance around these recent sexual allegations.
Ah yes, the silly season is in full swing.
One wonderful note: Mona Simpson’e eulogy for her brother, Steve Jobs, and quoting his last words: Oh, wow,” repeated three times. Do you think he saw what we hope we’ll see? That warms an old man’s heart. And that’s a good note to go out on.
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