The headlines are filled with the likes of Lance Armstrong, Manti Te'o, gun control, people pushed into subway trains, and Honey Boo Boo. It reminds me of how important it is for parents to be role models for their kids. Not just role models, but the best role models we can possibly be. I am repulsed by the Armstrong getting so much attention by being on Oprah to tell the world that he's a liar and despicable man. Hey, go away dude. Some place where we never have to see or hear from you again. It's time that parents, all parents, teach our kids that athletes are not great role models, at least most of them. To get to the top they, like Donald Trump and every other "financial wizard," had to push everyone out of the way. Trample friend and foe under foot to get there. Lie, cheat, and steal. Not that every jock is a creep, hardly, but as role models they leave much to be desired. Want a role model? Read about John Quincy Adams. In fact, read about John Adams, Abigail Adams, Henry Adams, and the entire Adams family. They are true role models.
Today's Baseball Hall of Fame announcement raised many questions. One was that some players knew of the cheating by Bonds, Clemens, etc and said nothing. I can't go along with the "said nothing" because sports at any level just doesn't lend itself to exposing a fellow athlete. Lance Armstrong is just one example. Next, "said nothing" really does not apply because there was no testing for most of the time that Bonds, Clemens, et al played. No testing, no penalty, no nothing. Next, baseball in general, owners and players and stadium workers and EVERYONE benefited when McGwire, Sosa, Bonds, Clemens and who knows who else brought a new level of HR records and Cy Young awards to the game. Blind eye! So, though they were never accused nor was there ever a sniff of guilt, the likes of Biggio, Bagwell, and Piazza did not gain entry because of some suspicion or rumor of use, or in your thinking because they knew what was going on. It reminds me of going through an airport. TSA assumes everyone is guilty because of 9/11. Have we forgotten innocent until proven guilty? True these are ballplayers, but Congress chose to indict and foolishly threw away tax payer money and in addition, without naming names, cast a shadow of doubt over every player from that era. Just not fair. My last argument has to do with PEDs. What exactly is a Performance Enhancing Drug? If Barry Bonds twisted his ankle and got a Novocaine shot so he could perform, isn't that a PED? Where do we draw the line? If you wake up with a severe headache and take a few Advil so that you can do your job, haven't you enhanced your performance? I won't even go into Viagra! I'm not in favor of just allowing Bonds et al into the HOF carte blanche. Some determination makes sense as far as acknowledging the era. But unless they are proven to have cheated then the likes of Biggio and Bagwell and Piazza should be enshrined without an asterix. Let's not even go into "integrity." Do some reading on Cap Anson, Charlie Radbourn, Ty Cobb and many others already enshrined. Not good example of "integrity", to say the least.
"Guns don't kill people, people kill people."
Heard that one before?
Okay, well I know that David slew Goliath with a sling shot and a rock. But I'm hard pressed to think of another example of rock vs. human. And for the life of me I cannot think of another killing involving a fork or a rolled up newspaper or a Christmas tree.
But let's ask these folks what they think about the issue:
Abraham Lincoln
Alexander Hamilton
James Garfield
William McKinley
John F. Kennedy
Martin Luther King
Robert Kennedy
John Lennon
Charlotte Bacon, 2/22/06
Daniel Barden, 9/25/05
Rachel Davino
Olivia Engel, 7/18/06
Josephine Gay, 12/11/05
Ana M. Marquez-Greene, 04/04/06
Dylan Hockley, 3/8/06
Dawn Hochsprung
Madeleine F. Hsu, 7/10/06
Catherine V. Hubbard, 6/08/06
Chase Kowalski, 10/31/05
Jesse Lewis, 6/30/06
James Mattioli , 3/22/06
Grace McDonnell, 12/04/05
Anne Marie Murphy
Emilie Parker, 5/12/06
Jack Pinto, 5/06/06
Noah Pozner, 11/20/06
Caroline Previdi, 9/07/06
Jessica Rekos, 5/10/06
Avielle Richman, 10/17/06
Lauren Russeau
Mary Sherlach
Victoria Soto
Benjamin Wheeler, 9/12/06
Allison N. Wyatt, 7/03/06
What's that you say?
So today is 12-22-12. Below is a story of the Old World known as Earth I. That world ended yesterday if you didn't notice. I did. And I'm sure many of you did, too. So, please remember the new rules of Earth II:
I. Be kind to everyone, even your waitress and the greeter at Walmart.
II. Hug your kids at least 5 times a day and check their homework.
III. Take an opportunity at least twice a day to make someone else smile
IV. Remember RAOK (Random acts of kindness)
V. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you
Thus there is no need for guns or the NRA. Obama and the Republicans will hug. Trump will stop talking and get a haircut. Murdoch will give ALL of his $ to Operation Smile. Lindsay Lohan will join a convent. Honey Boo Boo and her mother will go vegan. The Cubs will win the World Series. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will rent a nice summer cottage in Miami next door to Benjamin Netanyahu and they'll play pinochle every night for Hanukkah gelt. Apple and Samsung will make nice and give away free computers to everyone in the new world. Arabs and Palestinians and Israelis will join hands and sing IMAGINE, GIVE PEACE A CHANCE, and ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE!
Let's make it happen...TODAY!!!
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20121221_World_War_II_survivor_of_a_dark_day.html#recent_comm
The NRA defends it's stance by quoting the Second Amendment. I would advise them to read Alexander Hamilton's analysis in Federalist #29. The intent, following the Revolutionary War, was how to protect the State (meaning a state such as NY, not the US as a whole) from foreign incursion. It is important to remember that when the Amendment was written the US had no standing army due to fears of a potential monarchy subsidized by a strong military alliance. Thus the need for local militia for protection. Militias were local, and the need was there for them to be trained to be ready at any time for service. Thus they needed to be armed as well as ready. The Amendment is written as one function, the need for armed militia. If there were two separate functions it would have been written thus: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, [AND] the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." The Amendment read in conjunction with Federalist #29 is clear. Hamilton's analysis was used to limit gun rights right through until 1939, when the Supreme Court heard a gun case, but not until 2008 were the limits removed. Claiming the right to own weapons as a Constitutional right is in error. The right came directly from a conservative Supreme Court which used their authority to usurp the Constitution and become legislators rather than judges.
Many things on the conservative agenda strike me as not only odd but also un-American. First, abortion rights. If Roe v Wade is overturned it will give the Fed control of American women's bodies. I do not condone abortion. But I do think that those who cry out for less government need to understand where this may possibly lead. Beside the obvious illegal abortions, what about men? Men are half of the story, correct? Women are not asexual. They need a partner in order to become pregnant. Who is to say that vasectomy may be next? If the Fed can control a woman's body, why not a man's? Perhaps those crusty old men on the religious right might think twice about limiting a woman's right to control her own body if there's was also controlled. Is this far fetched? Not at all when there is talk of involuntary vasectomy for rapists. Once the Fed steps into this area there will be no stopping them.
A reminder to the far right Tea Party. Someone once said, "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
