Don’t Lacrosse Duke

How can anyone forget the incident at Duke University last year where the lacrosse team raped an innocent black stripper at a party? That poor underprivileged stripper was violated in a most heinous way by those rich Duke students. Who knows how often that happens at those universities where the privileged upper crusts of society flaunt their status and “better than thou” attitudes? Oh, wait a minute. That’s right, the boys were found to be innocent and the district attorney that pushed the case disbarred for prosecuting a case that was absolutely false and based on lies from the poor innocent victim.

Now the President of Duke University is apologizing to the lacrosse players for giving the impression that he did not support them during the media firestorm that took place after the false accusation by the poor, underprivileged black stripper. An apology is not all he needs to give for how he handled that situation. He fired the long standing lacrosse coach and abandoned the boys that were accused of the crime. Not one word of support or attempt to assist during the entire episode came from the leadership of the University. Now, when everything has been settled and the boys found to be innocent beyond the shadow of a doubt, we get the person that could have made a difference showing up to apologize for a lack of leadership. I think there is a bigger reason.

When a situation like this happens and the big dogs completely mess it up, it starts a vacuum effect. All of the people that support the University see how things are handled by the people they are entrusting with their alumnus contributions. When the leadership gives the impression (and a well earned one this is) that they are incompetent, the flow of funds stops. So this heart felt apology to those poor mistreated boys is nothing more than an attempt to get the University supporters to open their check books again. Hopefully, this clod will get his just deserts and be tossed out on his ear. I can understand letting the legal process handle the situation but as I remember, it is innocent until proven guilty, not punish before the facts are in.

Icool

Cobb

$21 A Week

The local talk radio station has taken up a crusade on a group of elected officials that are promoting an underused government program. There is a campaign to promote that people on food stamps are living on only $21 a week. They are implying that the poor are being starved to death while those that “have” are living in the lap of luxury or at least enjoying three squares a day. In a nation suffering the plague of obesity, the idea that anyone is starving to death, it not only absurd but implies that what we see every day must be an illusion.

Now, I know that I could feed my family on $21 per week. A family of 5 would get $105 per week to live on. I know because I was unemployed for a few months in 2002 and managed to live on $70 a week. That included laundry detergent and toilet paper also which although food related are not edible. The key to living on $21 per week may be foreign to many Americans but to those who think it through, it is quite simple; eat at home. Yes, I know that you can get a double cheeseburger at McDonalds for $1.00 but that would be one per meal every meal all week. I love McDonalds cheeseburgers but I think I would be tired of the after three or four days.

Cooking at home, that lost art, is a tried and true method of reducing and maintaining your food costs. It is simple to watch for sales at the local grocery stores and stock up when sales hit. It is amazing the variety of things you can prepare using simple ingredients. If you stay away from the prepared foods it is even less expensive. I don’t have time you to cook you say. I come home from work and get a meal prepared in less than an hour. Planning ahead makes all of the difference. Don’t have time to plan you say. Wow, you have time to sit in a restaurant or a drive through and think about what you are going to have but cannot spend 5 minutes thinking through a menu. I don’t think it is lack of time to plan. There is another term that the rest of the world loves to call Americans; lazy. I would hate to think it true but as the government takes over more and more of the responsibilities, it provides us less and less to do. Sitting around getting fat is not leisure, its laziness.

So, think about spending $21 per week for food and take the challenge. You may find that you enjoy preparing meals or at least having a few more dollars to spend each week.

Icool

Cobb

I’d Rather Not

What do you do when you have been kicked to the curb as a dinosaur in your field after holding the prestigious spot at the top of the Tiffany Network? When you have developed this huge ego that allows you to drip your acid comments into the nationally broadcast nightly news without any rebuttal from those who get burned? What happens when you present a story that is motivated by hatred of a person instead of being actual news? You retaliate against those people who allowed you to become this ego driven celebrity and sue for $70 million. You also blame the conservative government for trying to sway public opinion by discrediting the news.

I remember seeing Dan Rather as a war correspondent in Vietnam on the evening news. At the time I was too young to understand anything other than we had troops dying in another country. As an adult, I have a much better understanding of what Dan Rather and the sainted Walter Cronkite did to both the military and worse yet, to the individual service men that served in that war. What was reported by the media outlets during that period turned a generation away from supporting our troops, the back bone of our national defense. When feces and urine were tossed on troops returning home from Vietnam and the label of baby killer is pinned on any individual that wore the uniform, it shows that popular opinion can be swayed by the way the news is presented.

It is okay to be against military conflict. No one loves war. Even if you say you love war, you would not want to be on the front lines so you are blowing smoke. But sometimes a war is necessary and we elect those who make that decision. It is okay to come out and say you do not like war but using news to try to discredit people to accomplish your aims makes it opinion not news. We have been exposed to the liberal bias in the news long enough. When they get caught lying to the viewers, they become indignant and in Rather’s case, get fired. Now he is letting his ego override the process and if you can’t win in the arena of public opinion, let the courts prove you right. The liberals have been taking this approach for years. Just look at abortion and a nation of law suit happy Americans. At least he stays true to the liberal agenda.

Icool

Cobb

As the Season Fades

Where has the summer gone? I remember asking that question every year about this time. It is like we live faster during the summer and for us northerners, as the days get shorter, time starts to slow. When you go to work in the dark and come home in the dark, it seems like you are in a stage of perpetual night. I know that I enjoy the warm days all the more knowing that they are soon coming to an end.

I had a very full summer this year. We had two family vacations this year. The first was a business conference for my wife. She was allowed to bring the family to Disney in Orlando which made it a fun time. The kids got their 1st plane ride and it was a relaxing time at the Magic Kingdom. We did not try to see everything and go on all of the rides so it was not the rush to enjoy the place. But that was the pale vacation.

We also went to Colorado. We normally vacation at a beach type place every other year with my sister, brother-in-law and nieces. This year it was a Rocky Mountain High. We took pictures of everything and I have enjoyed reliving the week in the mountains again and again. We were in a town called Dillon which sits on a man made lake. It has a yacht club at 9100 feet and seeing the sailboats with the mountains looming behind them is a picture that calms the mind. Talk about serenity. It was a vacation that I will relive again and again. Thank the Lord for digital cameras and software to brighten up the pictures.

So as this year creeps to the dark to dark days, I know that I had a great year with family and friends. My children are at the age where they appreciate things like vacations and they made this year a very special one.

Icool

Cobb

Neanderthals and Tofu

Articles on Yahoo today indicate that Neanderthals did not die off from a global climate change. That is a huge load off of my mind. I was very concerned that man’s predecessors were responsible for the global climate change that melted the glaciers and doomed the Neanderthals. After all, it was our desire to stay warm that caused us to light fires and I am sure that, along with the flatulence from the herds of wild animals, led to the melting of the glaciers and the restoration of what we think is normal temperatures here on Earth. I can now sleep at night knowing that we do not have to pay reparations to the surviving ancestors that extinct species of human. They are extinct anyway but I am sure a clever lawyer could scheme up some way to weasel money out of someone. After all, someone got paid for a hot cup of coffee to the lap. Oops!

Another article on Yahoo discusses how eating less meat will slow climate change. Well, this harkens back to why the Neanderthals became extinct. Maybe if they had switched from being omnivores to a strict vegan diet, they may still be around. It was all of that meat eating that must have led to the global warming that caused the end of the ice age and spelled doom to the species. If the Chinese restaurant in the next cave complex had only had tofu lo mien instead of sweet and sour pork, we would be able to commune with our Neanderthal cousins and be living in peace and harmony. But no, the Chinese cuisine as we know it had not been invented yet and we end up with warmer weather and the mass extinction of numerous animal species.

So to save ourselves from further environmental disasters, we should all turn off our heat and switch to a strict vegetarian diet. We will probably freeze to death come the middle of December but there are those living in the south that would be able to vacation here in the summer. As for a vegetarian diet, I know that many items on that menu give me “the wind something fierce.” Eliminating flatulence may not be the best long term solution. The best long term solution would be to stop looking to solve something that mother Earth has managed since creation. We have had volcanoes and ice ages long before recorded history and life has still managed to flourish. Of course, the fossil records provide a record of the extinctions that have occurred over the years. I am sure the Neanderthals though many of them were very tasty.

Icool

Cobb

Absence of Flight

We are observing another anniversary of the terrorist attacks on America. Other than taking out the terrorist supporting Islamic theocracy in Afghanistan and the megalomaniac that brutally ruled Iraq, what has America done make the world safer? We have spilled the blood of our soldiers to help people around the world live lives free from oppressive governments but have we actually contributed to the overall safety of the global community? Are we getting to the roots of the terrorist breeding grounds or just trimming the split ends of these psychotic killers?

The one thing I remember from the week following the terrorist attacks was the absence of planes in the air. I lived in Michigan at the time and was in the flight path to Detroit metro airport. On a normal day, you would always see either planes or numerous vapor trails streaming through the sky. After 9/11, the skies were clear for several days. I remember when they lifted the flight ban and I stood in wonderment at the number of planes that once again left their trails of white in the clouds. It was a clear signal that things were getting back to normal, whatever normal ended up being. We had clear signals from our government that things would be put in place to prevent and avenge this crime. The healing had begun.

Fast forward to September 11, six years later. We have avenged the terrorist attacks and put plenty of airport security measures in place but have we created a safer environment for America? I would say that our policies in Afghanistan and Iraq are bearing fruit. Killing the fanatics where they live makes sense. Having the people where the terrorist live kill fanatics make even more sense. That is getting to the root of the problem instead of taking the liberal approach of appeasement. Y’all remember Hitler. Look up Chamberlain and the abandonment of Poland if you think appeasement of single minded psychotics is a viable option. We still have our border issues that need to be resolved but our politicians are too wrapped up in re-election to do little more that provide lip service on that issue.

So some areas we have managed to make inroads to a more safer America and world but in other areas we are as fat, dumb, and happy as we were September 10, 2001.

Icool

Cobb

The Definition of “The”

Almost every sentence used on a daily basis has the word “the” in it. It is amazing how used a word can be and still not be worn out. Webster’s On-Line Dictionary has numerous definitions of ”the” but they all start the same way: “used as a function word.” So we have one the most used words in the English language that is defined as a function word. So what is a function word?

Once again I go to Webster’s for a definition. Function is defined as: the action for which a person or thing is specially fitted or used or for which a thing exists. Now that is a mouthful. So “the” is a thing specially fitted, used, or for which a thing exists. I don’t think I know any more about the definition of “the” than when I started.

I guess I would define “the” as a way of addressing another word. It would be something like Mr. or Mrs. or Dr. It can sit in front of a noun, like the tree, or an adjective like the quaking aspens. It can be used before an adverb like the slowly moving train. We are so used to it being there and its function is nothing more than a way to pretty up speech. Try a sentence without using “the.” Quaking aspens shook beside slowly moving train. If you insert “the” The quaking aspens shook beside the slowly moving train, it regains the feel of speech.

A little frivolity and a quick hurrah for one of English’s unsung heroes, “the”.

Icool

Cobb

Heart Warming Story

Swedish doctors have predicted that due to global warming, there will be a greater occurance of heart disease. All of this based on the comparison of the French heat wave that caused massive deaths a few years ago and the supposition that we are in a period of global warming. Yes, if your average temperature is 70 degrees and it rises to 75 degrees it will be like the living in 100 degrees for an extended period of time. Somewhere this gets lost in translation. That must explain why there are more heart attacks in the summer than in the winter (since I have no clue when the bulk of myocardial infarcions occur but there is alot of snow being shoveled from December to March.)

So once again we have scientists predicting how their predictions will affect other predictions. I really think that there is a kook central, like maybe the bat cave, with an old Radio Shack TSR80 computer and a dot matrix printer where they pump out warped ideas based on faulty premises. There are 60's hippies with ripped t-shirts and wholey jeans listening to Peter, Paul and Mary and Jefferson Airplane still trying to change the world to a better communist state. Somewhere they must have gotten a picture of the Senate and House Democrat leadership in a compromising situation (like having breakfast with a Republican) and are using it to furthe their agenda.

So we need to think out of the box on what other ways global warming will affect the world. There must be some way we can make humanity feel more guilty for the economic prosperity that we experience. Afte all, the poverty level in the US has increased. While the third world lives in hovels without electricity and indoor plumbing, walking everywhere they go, Americans watch their color TV's, talk on their cell phones and drive around in automobiles. So maybe we can blame global warming for world poverty. The correlation is that because most improverished nations lie closer to the equator, it must be because it is warmer that they are not as wealthy as the US. Global warming, yea right.

Icool

Cobb

Disappointment of Dune

I finished the final book in the post Frank Herbert Dune series; Sandworms of Dune, and am I sorry I wasted the time. I have been a fan of Dune since I discovered the series in high school. Frank Herbert had a unique way of getting into character’s minds and letting the reader feel the emotion as the character felt them. I’ll admit that sometimes he went more for the drama than the excitement but most of his writings were at least readable. That cannot be said for his son Brian.

I have read the prequels that Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson have produced. They have more adventure than the original series and provided a history for what was to become Dune but there is a huge gap between styles that cannot be bridged. Most of their characters lacked any depth and their plots were usually transparent and predictable. The disappointment is that they used Frank Herbert’s characters and turned them from fully fleshed into card board cut outs. Even the plots lack the depth of what Frank created.

With the original series, there was always some mystery that went on behind the curtains. You caught glimpses of plots and sub plots and there was enough misdirection to keep you guessing where the book was going. With the prequels and sequels, there is little more than information and misuse of characters. If you have to read them, go ahead and pick them up at the library. At least that way, the only thing you have invested is the gas. Sandworms of Dune is not worth purchasing and the rest of the non-Frank related Dune books are nothing more than an attempt to cash in on the true master’s work.

Icool

Cobb